


White Coat Syndrome

by tellmewhatyousee



Category: One Piece
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxiety, Awkward Meetings, Bisexual Male Character, Doctor Marco, Gay denial, M/M, Medical Kink, Narcolepsy, WIP, boy there sure is a lot of that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:27:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24974572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tellmewhatyousee/pseuds/tellmewhatyousee
Summary: Marco is approached by a young stranger at a club who decides to kiss him to prove a point. What happens next will shock you.(slow to update!)
Relationships: Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Portgas D. Ace
Comments: 150
Kudos: 247





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a concept i got from a list of tumblr prompts that i just had to write because i thrive on awkward interactions

Marco was too old for clubbing.

No one told him that to his face, but it was something he’d long since decided for himself. He didn’t drink much to begin with, the music was always far too loud, and most of the people there were at least ten years younger than him. There was simply nothing he could gain from the experience other than a headache.

Still, for some reason, he was there.

He thought maybe some part of him wanted to reminisce about his college days, back when he had the time and energy to get hammered and do dumb shit with his friends. As he’d gotten further into his studies, those reckless nights happened less and less. Once he graduated and got a respectable job, he’d stopped going out altogether.

In fact, this was his first voluntary night out on his own in nearly a decade.

He wanted to avoid the crowds as much as possible, so he ordered a drink and found a seat in one of the empty booths against the wall. It was late enough into the evening that most of the other patrons were drunk, or at the very least, tipsy. The music was _definitely_ too loud, but at least his drink wasn’t bad-- he’d allowed himself one beer, simple, no bells and whistles. He planned to leave as soon as he emptied the bottle.

Considering how loud the crowd was getting, he was glad it didn’t take very long to finish.

He was just thinking about how much he wished he’d brought earplugs when a tap on his shoulder startled him. He looked up from where he sat and saw a man he hadn’t spotted in the crowd before. He looked young, like everyone else there, and he was wearing a tank top that hung loosely from his shoulders. His face was flushed, and he had a big, dopey grin on his face that suggested he’d been drinking. 

“Hey, are you here with anyone?” the man called over the music, his voice much louder than necessary.

Marco furrowed his brow. He didn’t like that question, nor the implications of it. “Excuse me?”

The man stepped closer, which wasn’t entirely necessary. “Are you single?” he asked. “I wanna make a point to someone.”

Marco glanced around them. Make a point to _who,_ exactly? He couldn’t see anyone looking in their direction. “What do you—”

His question came to an abrupt end when the man grabbed his shirt collar and kissed him. Marco froze, eyes wide open, brain trying to process just what the hell was happening. All he could see was the man’s face, the freckles that covered his cheeks and nose. He hadn’t noticed them before, in the dim lighting of the club, but they were clear as day to him now.

The man didn’t seem to be showing any signs of stopping, and Marco decided he could just… let it happen. Even if only for a moment. It certainly wasn’t a _bad_ kiss, minus the initial impact, so he closed his eyes and leaned into it. The man started nipping at his lower lip, and as Marco’s lips parted, he could taste some sort of sweet drink on the tongue slipping into his mouth. He was very clearly intoxicated, and Marco had no intention to take things any further than a kiss— though, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t enjoying himself.

He intended to keep his hands to himself, because he was a respectable man with plenty of self-control. But as the other man started climbing into his lap, Marco had to hold his sides to keep him from falling over. His hands faltered when he felt the man’s hips roll against his thigh, and he decided then and there that it was time to stop. He tilted his head back and gave the man a gentle push, hoping to communicate his intentions without causing any problems.

It didn’t work.

The man only doubled his efforts, his chest pressed against Marco’s while he wrapped his arms around his neck. The fact that Marco was still kissing him back probably wasn’t helping his case, though the distinct feeling of an erection grinding down against his hips pulled him back to his senses.

When Marco finally forced them apart, the man was panting, and the blush on his cheeks looked significantly darker. He looked around for a moment before he looked down at Marco’s shirt collar and smoothed it out. “Thanks,” he said, a lopsided grin on his face. “I think I got my message across.”

Marco furrowed his brow. He realized he still had his hands on the man’s hips, so he dropped them down by his sides instead. “And… what _message_ was that, exactly?” he asked.

The man opened his mouth to reply... but his body went completely limp without any sort of warning. He slumped over against Marco, who had to hold his sides to keep him from falling over. The man was still breathing, at least, and checking his pulse put Marco a bit more at ease. He had just… fainted, for whatever reason.

The man was out a bit too long to constitute ’fainting,’ but Marco stuck around through it, because leaving someone drunk and unconscious at a club was a bad idea. Even if said person was still straddling his lap, and they were getting some strange looks from passersby.

When the man finally came to, he seemed startled. He looked around like he was taking in his surroundings before his gaze settled back on Marco. He seemed to have some sort of realization, because his eyes went wide, and the blush came back with a vengeance.

“Are... you alright?” Marco asked.

“Yeah, yeah, m’ fine,” he replied with a nervous little laugh. Carefully, he climbed off of Marco’s lap, straightening out his shirt along the way. “It happens. I’m... used to it.”

Marco frowned. How often did this guy pass out on random strangers? “You’re sure?” Marco asked, “Do you… have anyone else here with you?”

“Uh, yep!” said the man, who seemed more than ready to get the hell out of there. “My friend was in the bathroom before. I’d, uh, I’d better go meet him.”

“Sure,” Marco replied, but silently decided he was going to stick around until he was sure the kid wouldn’t be left on his own like that. “You passed out,” he said. “You should… maybe get checked out. Call your doctor.”

“Oh, there he is, I’d better get going!” the man said, already walking away. “Bye!”

Marco raised an eyebrow. He watched as the man met up with a blond guy who seemed a lot more steady on his feet. That was a good sign, right? Marco could definitely just finish his drink and go home. And then never go back there again.

* * *

“What do you _mean,_ you kissed a stranger?”

Sanji sounded like an angry parent as he glared at Ace through the rearview mirror. Ace had insisted on sitting in the backseat because he was ‘tired’ and ‘needed space to lie down.’

“I meant exactly what I said!” Ace replied. “I just grabbed him and kissed him. It was _exhilarating,_ Sanji.”

Sanji rolled his eyes. “Exhilarating or not, I’m pretty sure that counts as some form of assault.”

“Okay, but _I’m_ drunk,” Ace reasoned. “He seemed pretty sober, and s’not like I had my hands down his pants or anything. He didn’t seem too bothered by it, anyway.” He paused. “I mean… I think. I didn’t really get to see his reaction ‘cause we were kissing. But I don’t think he was mad! He was totally kissing me back.”

“You’re such a dumbass,” Sanji groaned. “I’m not leaving you alone when you’re drunk anymore. You always manage to do something stupid.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault I attract creeps!” Ace whined. “You’re lucky you weren’t around, or I would’ve kissed _you_ to scare her off.”

Sanji just sighed. “You know you can talk to security if someone’s bothering you, right?”

“But that guy was so _nice,_ Sanji,” Ace continued, completely disregarding the question. “I fell asleep right after we kissed, and he stuck around until I woke up!” Not that he had much choice in the matter, but still.

Sanji frowned, his expression quickly shifting from annoyed to worried. “You fell asleep again?” he asked. 

Ace froze, immediately realizing he’d fucked up. Then, he gave Sanji his best pout through the rearview mirror. “So what if I did?” he asked. 

_“So,_ this is the fourth time this week,” Sanji said. “You have to go see someone about this.”

Ace just groaned, flopping over onto his side despite the seatbelt struggling to keep him in place. Perhaps this was a discussion for sober Ace— he was a little less whiny.

* * *

Getting Ace set up with a doctor was like pulling teeth, only worse. For one, he hadn’t seen a primary care physician since he was in foster care, and he really didn’t want to go through the process of finding one on his own. When prompted, he argued that he had no idea how to go about it, to which Sanji suggested he ask Franky or Robin for guidance. Ace wasn’t about to take that advice, though, as it would bring him closer to seeing an actual doctor, which he very much did not want to do.

Naturally, Sanji just invited Robin to their apartment without telling Ace.

Robin was kind, loving, and excellent to have as a grown adult friend when they needed help. In fact, Ace considered her something of a distant mother. An aunt, maybe. However, she could also be pretty fucking terrifying at times— when it came to her friends’ wellbeing, she didn’t take no for an answer. By the time she left the apartment, Ace was all set with a new doctor and an appointment next week.

He was dreading it.

Though he had to admit, the weird sleeping spells were really starting to have an impact on his life. He assumed he was just overtired the first time he passed out at work, and his boss very forgiving. But he could tell that Franky was really starting to worry, especially when Ace’s head dropped while he was leaning under the hood of a car, and he ended up bleeding all over the engine. After that particular incident, Franky had forced Ace to take a few days off in the kindest way he could.

At least, if anything, it gave Ace some motivation to get his sleeping problems sorted. It _would_ be pretty detrimental to his work if he kept passing out like that, and even more detrimental to his financial situation if he couldn’t work at all. So, by the time his appointment rolled around, he’d just accepted it. He could deal with one anxiety-ridden day, get some sort of medication to make him stop falling asleep at random times, and move on with his life.

Ace made Sanji drive him to his appointment. Not because he was _scared,_ he insisted— if anything, he was more worried about falling asleep at the wheel and driving off the road. He’d started walking most places for that exact reason.

The waiting room was full of people who looked about as happy to be there as he was. He distinctly remembered his old pediatrician’s waiting room as a much more colorful and welcoming place. But he was an _adult_ now, so he got boring white walls and a small stack of magazines in the corner.

The wait was surprisingly short, and while Ace would have loved more time to stall, he knew it would be best to just get it over with. He jumped when he heard his name, but stood from his chair and offered the nurse his most convincing smile regardless.

“You’re gonna be fine,” Sanji said from behind him. He paused before he continued in a teasing tone, “Do you need me to come in with you?”

“Shut up,” Ace muttered, even if he’d seriously considered asking just that.

His time with the nurse was surprisingly… alright. She seemed to pick up on the fact that he was nervous, because she made a lot of friendly conversation and even got a few laughs out of him. While she checked his height, weight, and vitals, she explained everything she was doing and why she did it. While he’d typically see that as patronizing, it was actually putting him more at ease.

And then, she left him in an exam room with a neatly-folded gown in his hands, and he remembered why he didn’t want to be there in the first place.

With no friendly nurses to distract him, the environment around him had his full attention. Everything was so… _white,_ the smell was uncomfortably sterile, and the whole vibe of the place was just plain _unpleasant._ His gaze wandered across the various tools and devices hanging on the walls, more than half of which he couldn’t even guess the purpose of, and he felt his heart rate skyrocket. Even if the doctor was just as nice as the nurse and explained everything they were doing, this wouldn’t be an easy endeavor.

Apparently, he’d been standing there for a little too long, because a knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts. “Uh, just a minute!” he called, wincing at how shaky his voice sounded. Shit, he was supposed to be wearing the gown. He stripped down to his boxers as quickly as he could, and tied the gown haphazardly at his back before he hopped up onto the exam table. “Okay, come in!”

Just as the door opened, Ace realized he’d left his clothes strewn around the table. He was such a mess, he hadn’t even thought to put them down on a chair or something. As he worked to get them into at least a pile (folding was out of the question with such shaky hands), he spotted a pair of dress shoes stepping into the room out of the corner of his eye.

“Hello, sorry for the wait,” a calm voice greeted him, and he lifted his head to see the doctor offering a hand to shake. “I’m Dr. Newgate. I’ll be—”

Ace blinked. He must’ve looked like a deer caught in headlights, because he certainly felt like one.

That was the man he’d kissed at the club last week.

“...Oh. Hello.” The doctor cleared his throat, stuffing his hand into his coat pocket. “Ah. While I’m glad you took my advice and sought out medical help, I’d strongly suggest you see someone you’re not already… acquainted with. As that would be more… appropriate. Ethically speaking.”

Ace took another few moments just to stare at the doctor, fuzzy memories of their impromptu kiss looping in his mind. He wasn’t sure how he could ever forget a face like _that,_ but now it was staring right at him while he was clothed in nothing but a thin gown. He felt vaguely like he was going to throw up, or maybe just pass out. Both seemed like viable options at the moment.

“...Mr. Portgas?”

“Right, I… I agree,” Ace managed, nodding his head. “And, uh… I’m sorry. About before.”

Dr. Newgate had finally stopped looking at him, looking down at the clipboard in his hand instead. “I’m… sorry for the inconvenience, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to find another doctor who’s free at the moment,” he said, completely ignoring Ace’s own apology. “You might have to reschedule this appointment and come back another day.”

Ace let out a heavy sigh, putting his head in his hands. He was absolutely _mortified,_ and now he had to come _back_ and do all this over again. “Alright,” he muttered, “Whatever. That’s fine.”

“I’ll leave you to get dressed, then.”

The reminder of his current state of dress only made Ace feel worse, and he curled further in on himself as the room started spinning around him. All at once, his vision went blurry, and he barely registered the sound of someone speaking to him before he blacked out.

The nurse told him he was only out for a few seconds, but it seemed much longer. It was the same kind woman as before, hovering over him and asking him questions. He knew what day it was, he knew where they were, so she told him he’d be fine for the moment. After checking his vitals, she helped him sit up and left him to compose himself and get dressed.

In his tired haze, he vaguely registered that Dr. Newgate had made himself scarce.

Ace was supposed to go back to the front desk and make another appointment-- so, naturally, he did not. He just grabbed Sanji by the wrist and got them out of that building as fast as humanly possible.

Sanji had plenty of protests along the way, as well as questions that Ace refused to respond to. But once they got to the car, Sanji didn’t start the engine, just looked over at Ace. “Did you… get a diagnosis?” he asked.

“The doctor was that guy I made out with at the club,” Ace blurted out, and immediately regretted it because he knew he’d never hear the end of it. “He said it wasn’t _ethical,_ or something, and… and then I passed out. And no one else was free for an appointment, and I can’t go back there ever again.”

For a moment, Sanji was quiet, just processing what Ace had said. He decided it would be best not to answer, not to discuss this while Ace was in such a rough state, but he had to hold back his laughter as he backed out of his parking spot.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall wanted more so here we go. full disclosure i have no idea where this is going but i'm having a nice time writing it and that's what matters right

Ace couldn’t stop thinking about Dr. Newgate.

The kiss at the club had left an impression, for sure. But it was merely a drunken little escapade with an older man, an impulsive experience that he never planned to relive. Sure, he was prone to spontaneous makeout sessions after a few drinks, but those were pretty much exclusively with women— and, on a couple occasions, Sanji. But he wasn’t _attracted_ to Sanji. Sanji was just a good kisser, and drunkenly making out was fun with basically anyone, anyway.

He’d picked Newgate for a particular reason: He’d chosen an older man out of the crowd because forcing himself on a woman seemed like a terrible idea. Someone who was probably a head taller than Ace seemed like a better bet. If he wanted to, Newgate could likely overpower Ace very easily, and that particular thought made Ace feel some sort of way.

It was the doctor’s appointment that was particularly concerning.

Ace tried to convince himself that it was perfectly reasonable to be embarrassed after something like that. With his previous encounter with the doctor and his existing anxiety about the appointment, it made sense. He would love to just let it go, book an appointment at the office on the other side of town, and forget any of that ever happened.

Only… he couldn’t.

All he could think about was the way the doctor’s mouth felt against his own, the way he stared at Ace when they met in the office. It wasn’t just normal anxiety he felt at the sight of Newgate; there was something else there that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Something strangely similar to the thrill of making out with a stranger in a dark club. He rolled over in his bed as he ran through those recent events in his head, and let out a little huff when he realized he was getting hard just thinking about it.

Before he could fully process the implications of _that,_ his bedroom door burst open, and the sound of Sanji’s voice made him jump out of his skin. “Did you eat _all_ the chicken that was in the fridge?” Sanji asked. “I was saving that for—”

It took Sanji a moment to realize that he’d barged in at the wrong time, but it seemed that Ace staring at him wide-eyed with his sheets bunched up in front of his torso clued him in pretty quickly. He turned on his heels before he got the hell out of there, slamming the door behind him. “Stop eating my food!” he called from behind the door.

Ace, once again wholly mortified, let out a sigh as he flopped back down onto his bed. It wasn’t as if Sanji had never walked in on him in a compromising position before. They’d been living together for over a year, of _course_ they’d had their fair share of embarrassing incidents. And while Sanji would have no way of knowing what exactly had caused such a reaction this time around, it still made Ace want to crawl under the covers and never come out.

But, alas, he had to go to work.

Once he was sure Sanji had made himself scarce, Ace decided to take it across the hall to the bathroom. He figured he could just jerk off in the shower while thinking about things that made _sense_ to him, like women his own age.

* * *

Ace wasn’t allowed to work on cars for a while, not after the incident with the cut on his forehead, but he’d convinced Franky to let him work in reception. After all, Ace was a pretty amicable guy, and he didn’t mind talking to people all day. His shifts wouldn’t be as long, and his salary wouldn’t be quite as much, but he figured it was better than nothing.

It was a slow day, and working at the front desk was pretty boring to begin with. If he wasn’t talking to a customer, he was pretty much just sitting there and twiddling his thumbs or scrolling through his phone. When a rather attractive blonde woman came through the waiting room to retrieve her car, Ace found his thoughts wandering back to where they’d been that morning. He shook himself out of that pretty quickly, though, as he didn’t need anyone else catching him in such a state of mind.

Since he wouldn’t allow himself to think of anything too exciting, his job remained dull as ever. Eventually, a look at his phone let him know that he was already a few minutes into his lunch break, and he was wasting precious eating time just _sitting_ there. Where was the person who was supposed to be covering for him?

He stood up to find Franky and ask, but ended up sitting right back down when a wave of exhaustion hit him like a truck. He didn’t even have time to lean back in his chair before his eyelids were drooping, and the rest of his body followed suit.

When he came to, the first thing he saw was Franky staring down at him. At least Ace had found him, one way or another.

“Ace!” Franky exclaimed while he shook Aceʼs shoulder, as if he wasn’t already awake. “You okay, bro? I came out here, and you were on the floor again.”

Ace let out a sigh as he reached up to rub his eyes. “M’fine, promise,” he insisted. “Just tired. Was gonna nap on my break.”

“I mean, that’s fine, but I’d rather you do it in the breakroom and not the lobby, you know?” Franky said. “You sure you’re all good? This guy who came in says he’s a doctor. He saw you fall and was worried you’d hit your head.”

Ace felt a spike of anxiety at the mention of a doctor, which worsened significantly when he recognized the doctor in question. Of all the doctors in the city, of all the _people_ in the city, it just _had_ to be Newgate. He looked concerned, like he didn’t even recognize Ace, like he was just an ordinary doctor worried about an ordinary stranger.

“My head’s fine,” Ace insisted as Franky helped him sit up. “I think I just… fell from the chair. So it wasn’t that far.”

“I’d just like to make sure of that, if you don’t mind,” Newgate chimed in, and before Ace could protest, he crouched down in front of him. Ace looked to Franky for help, but Franky was too distracted by someone calling his name from the garage.

“Hey, bro, I should go see what that’s about,” Franky said, patting Ace on the shoulder. “I’ll come back and check on you in a bit, okay?”

Ace glanced between Franky and Newgate before he nodded, albeit reluctantly. Fate was being particularly cruel to him these past couple of weeks, it seemed. 

“You were out for a few minutes,” Newgate said, apparently already getting started as Franky left the room. “I’d be more concerned if I hadn’t seen it from you before.”

Ace crossed his arms, looking down at the floor so he wouldn’t have to make any eye contact. “I thought you said you couldn’t be my doctor,” he said.

“Well, considering this is just first aid, and I’m not looking through your medical records, I’m not too concerned about that,” the doctor answered. “I could always call an ambulance for you if you’d prefer someone else.”

Ace’s eyes widened slightly. “No, that’s fine,” he said. He didn’t want to think about the implications of that, nor the _cost_.

“Well, the offer stands if you change your mind,” Newgate replied. “Could you look up at me, please?”

It took a moment, but Ace lifted his head. The doctor was just sort of… gazing into his eyes, and he knew that had something to do with screening for a concussion, but it still made him feel uneasy.

“You mentioned this has happened before,” Newgate said after a moment. “Do you know _what’s_ happening, exactly?”

Ace sighed, looking back down at the floor. He really wasn’t up for talking, but the faster he answered questions, the faster he could get out of that situation and take a real nap. “Yeah, I was just… I fell asleep,” he answered. “Just now, and... the first time we met. My friends think it’s narcolepsy, or something like that. But I’m not sure.”

Newgate nodded. “I can’t really give you a diagnosis myself, but I’m sure once you see your new doctor, they can give you an answer,” he replied. Ace decided not to mention that he had, in fact, booked it out of the office without even thinking of scheduling another appointment.

At that point, Newgate had his hands up awfully close to his face. “May I?” he asked, and though Ace didn’t really know what he was asking _about,_ he nodded.

Newgate’s hands were… decidedly warm. The gentle touches around the back of his head would almost be pleasant if he wasn’t on the verge of another anxiety attack. At one point, Newgate hit a tender spot that made him flinch, then pulled his hands away.

“You should put some ice on that,” he said. “Are you feeling any dizziness, nausea, anything like that?”

Ace took a deep breath. Yes. Yes, absolutely. But it had only started when the guy started _touching_ him, and he highly doubted it had anything to do with hitting his head. “No,” he lied. “Just tired.”

“Well, that’s understandable,” the doctor replied. He put two fingers to Ace’s wrist, and he must’ve noticed just how fast his pulse was because Ace caught a brief flash of confusion on his features before his expression went neutral again. “You should go home and get some rest. And call your doctor right away if you’re feeling anything unusual, alright?”

“Sure,” Ace replied, even though he would most certainly not be calling anyone. Newgate stood up and offered him a hand, and it seemed rude not to accept the offer, so he reached out and took it before he stood. “Thanks,” he muttered.

“Of course,” Newgate replied. “Go home. I’ll talk to your boss. He was worried about you, I’m sure he’ll understand.”

While the idea of Franky making conversation with his (former) doctor was kind of terrifying, Ace couldn’t really do much about it. So, he listened to Newgate’s advice and went home.

* * *

Marco couldn’t even pretend like he knew anything about cars, so he was thankful to his brothers for pointing him in the right direction when he needed a tuneup. They raved about Franky’s, how friendly the staff was, and how they didn’t overcharge the more inexperienced folks like some other places did.

He definitely hadn’t really been expecting to see a familiar face on staff.

He felt bad for the kid, really. He could tell he was embarrassed, and given the circumstances, it was understandable. They’d definitely had some questionable encounters, and Marco showing up at his place of employment was probably the worst of it.

Marco found Franky with his head under a car, but the loud floral pattern on his jumpsuit was instantly recognizable. He waited until Franky rolled out from underneath the car, so as not to startle him, and the man greeted him with a grin.

“Oh, hey there,” Franky said as he stood up and wiped his hands on the legs of his suit. “Is Ace alright?”

Marco nodded. “Overtired, it seems,” he answered. “I told him to head home and get some rest. I hope that’s alright with you.”

“Oh, yeah, totally,” Franky replied with a wave of his hand. “I’ve already got him working reception cuz he keeps falling asleep on the job. At least he can’t really hurt himself at a desk, right?” He chuckled, though Marco had a hard time laughing along with him.

“Yes, well, I encouraged him to seek medical help if it keeps happening,” Marco replied. He didn’t need to get into specific details.

Franky scoffed. “Yeah, you and everyone else he knows,” he said. “The kid’s really stubborn about getting help. I’m pretty sure he only took a first aid class so we wouldn’t have to call an ambulance every time he managed to hurt himself on the job.”

Marco frowned. While he had to wonder why the poor kid was so adamantly against the idea of getting help, it wasn’t his place to pry. They’d probably never see each other again, anyway— at least not until the next time Marco’s car needed repairs.

“So, what are you here for?” Franky asked, and Marco shook his head when he realized he’d been spacing out. “I’ll give you a discount since you helped Ace out.”

* * *

All Ace wanted to do was sleep. Luckily, Sanji was still at work (and would be until later in the evening), so he could do just that. A quiet apartment was a blessing, and he was going to take full advantage of it. He tossed his work clothes into the laundry and flopped down onto his bed, wearing only his boxers.

He was sound asleep within minutes.

Ace wasn’t one to remember his dreams very often, especially not during his shorter naps. So, naturally, he was more than a little confused when he woke up with a tent in his boxers. He was no stranger to saucy dreams, but they never left him feeling so… strange. 

He didn’t want to admit it, not even to himself, but he could vaguely recall the image of Dr. Newgate in his subconscious mind.

He let out a frustrated huff, hiding his face in his pillow. He couldn’t believe himself. Sure, that wasn’t the first time he’d had a sexy dream involving another man, but it was usually a faceless figure to satisfy his brain’s curiosity. Never someone he _knew._

Regardless of his reservations about the subject matter, he _was_ still hard, and he wasn’t just going to ignore that. He decided that, just for a moment, he could indulge himself and think about it. There was a pretty small chance he’d ever see Newgate again, after all. If he decided to show up at Franky’s again, Ace could just hide and get someone else to cover for him. Easy.

There was something about the way Newgate had looked into his eyes that made him feel… something. He remembered it distinctly, every time they’d encountered each other. The concern in his gaze both times he’d found him asleep. The way he seemed to be staring right into Ace’s soul when they met in the doctor’s office.

He slipped a hand into his boxers while he tried to remember the specific details of their first encounter. The thought of the man’s hands on him again made him squirm between his bedsheets. He wished he could remember exactly how he felt in the doctor’s arms. Were his hands warm or cold at the time? He’d be fine with either, but thinking about frigid hands on his bare skin sent a shiver down his spine.

It wasn’t long before Ace’s mind wandered, and he wondered just what could have happened if he hadn’t left the office right then. If Dr. Newgate went through with the exam, even after what had happened at the club.

He thought about how gentle the doctor would be with his touches, how careful he’d be as he ran his hands along Ace’s body. Then, as his mind wandered further, he thought about the doctor pinning him to the exam table and kissing him again. They’d both be much more eager this time around, now that they both knew what to expect. And in the privacy of the exam room, they could take things much further. Though, he’d have to keep quiet, even as the doctor wrapped a hand around his cock, much like he was doing himself. He’d start with slow strokes, making Ace squirm and whine, and—

A crash sounded from somewhere in the apartment, tearing Ace right out of his little fantasy. Somewhat reluctantly, he tucked himself back into his boxers and sat up in bed. “...Sanji?” he called. No answer. He tried it a little louder, but still no response. With a sigh, he climbed out of bed and put on a pair of black sweatpants. Hopefully, with a bit of adjusting, his boner wouldn’t be so obvious.

He made his way down the hall before he poked his head into the kitchen. Sanji was standing in front of an open cabinet, head in his hands, surrounded by fallen tupperware containers. 

“Uh... hey there,” Ace said, “What’s up?”

Sanji let out an exasperated sigh, running a hand through his hair. “I _told_ you to stop putting things away like this,” he said. “Because it _falls._ ”

Ace nodded slowly. If anything, a good scolding from Sanji was enough to kill his boner. “At least it’s not glass this time,” he commented, but Sanji’s glare told him he wasn’t having it. “Want some help?”

Another sigh. “I’d appreciate it, yeah,” Sanji muttered.

Things were quiet while they picked up the mess. Ace tried to match the containers with the cases the best he could, and passed them over to Sanji to stack up neatly in the cabinet. Surprisingly, it was Sanji who decided to start a conversation.

“How was work?” he asked. “Is reception as exciting as it sounds?”

“God, don’t remind me,” Ace muttered as he passed over another container.

Sanji raised an eyebrow. “Did something happen?” he asked, “Or is it just that boring?”

Ace hesitated. He knew telling Sanji about his little incident would only cause more concern. But, really, he just needed someone to share his misery with. “Well, I fell asleep at the counter,” he said, and tried his best to ignore Sanji’s worried expression. “But, the _good_ news is, there was a _doctor_ there to see it.”

Sanji blinked, clearly confused. “You sure don’t sound like you’re giving me good news.”

Ace passed the last of the tupperware over to Sanji before he crossed his arms. “Promise you’re not gonna make fun of me?” he asked.

“I can’t promise anything,” Sanji answered. “But now I _have_ to know.”

Ace rolled his eyes before he looked away from Sanji, unable to face him. “It was… the same guy. From the club. Again.”

The dead silence he got in response was a little concerning, so Ace turned to look at his roommate. Sanji was staring at him with wide eyes, holding a hand over his mouth, clearly stifling his reaction.

Ace sighed. “It’s fine,” he said. “Laugh, you asshole.”

Sanji snickered, shaking his head as he turned back to the counter to continue whatever it was he’d been working on before the tupperware incident. “That’s fucking hilarious,” he said. “It’s like you’re stuck in a shitty rom-com.”

Ace was glad Sanji had turned away and couldn’t see the way he blushed at that comment. He _knew_ it was just a pointless jab. It wasn’t uncommon for them to tease about each other’s sexualities, and it never bothered him before. Though, now, when he found himself questioning his own attraction, it hit a little closer to home. “Oh, shut up,” he muttered. “I’m not gonna fall for some creepy old guy, _especially_ not if he keeps showing up in my life at the worst possible moments.”

“I don’t know, I think it’s kinda cute,” Sanji teased. “How old _is_ he, anyway?”

Ace thought about that for a moment. He… really had no idea. “I dunno,” he said, “But he’s a _doctor,_ he’s gotta be older than us. It doesn’t matter, though, ’cause I’m never gonna see him again.”

Sanji hummed. “Knowing your luck, I’m not so sure about that,” he said with a chuckle.

Ace scoffed. “Whatever,” he said, turning to head back down the hall towards his room. “I’m going out.” While Sanji’s cooking was awfully tempting, Ace really wasn’t in the mood for any more conversation.

He really needed to get laid.

* * *

Ace chose a bar a reasonable distance from the club they’d been at before, just for some peace of mind. He didn’t need Sanji as a babysitter, of course, but it _had_ been a while since he’d gone out alone, so he sent Sanji his location once he got there. The worst that could happen was probably just him falling asleep and someone calling an ambulance on him (again), but he’d rather be safe than sorry.

It was a pretty classy place; he noticed that right away. He’d heard before that the drinks were pretty decently priced despite the atmosphere, so it seemed like a solid choice. Plus, it was far enough away from the apartment building that he had a pretty small chance of seeing anyone he knew, and that fit in nicely with his plans for the evening.

After he ordered his second beer, he decided it was a good time to start scoping out the scene. There seemed to be a surprising amount of couples there, and while playing third wheel to a straight couple or a pair of particularly adventurous lesbians had been on his bucket list for a while, he didn’t think it was a good time or place to try that. Instead, he kept an eye out for any single women who looked like they wouldn’t mind being approached.

Needless to say, he was surprised when _he_ was the one being approached.

The girl who sat beside him had bright blue hair, and while he had a pretty impressive track record of dating brunettes exclusively, he certainly didn’t mind a little variety. When she turned to smile at him, his heart fluttered.

“Hey there,” she greeted. She raised an eyebrow, which was pierced, and looked him up and down. “You come here often?”

Ace, already pretty smitten, took a few seconds to process that as a genuine question. “Wh— uh… no, actually,” he said with a chuckle. “Thought I’d try someplace new. How about you?”

The woman nodded. “Yeah, same here,” she said. She gave him a smirk, and leaned in a little closer before she continued. “I like to be straightforward about these things, so I’m gonna be honest with you. I’m kinda just looking for some fun.” She batted her eyes at him. “Is that something you’d be able to help me with?”

Ace’s eyes went wide. He felt a little lightheaded, but he was pretty sure it was because most of his blood supply was rushing down to his groin. Yes, he _definitely_ liked women, and there was no doubt about that anymore. He tried to get an answer out, but it caught in his throat. After an awkward cough, he managed a nod. “Yeah, totally,” he said. “Definitely. Uh, I’m Ace.”

“Nice to meet you, Ace,” the woman answered with a smile. “Wanna get out of here?”

Ace nodded immediately and rushed to pay his tab off before she pulled him out of the bar.

They ended up in the backseat of Ace’s car. It wasn’t the first place he would have chosen, but he could understand her reasoning. He probably wouldn’t have let a complete stranger come back to his apartment, either— well, okay, maybe if he was horny enough, and he was kinda getting there.

The woman— Ace hadn’t even gotten her name, he realized— wasn’t gentle with him in the slightest, but he couldn’t care less. All he could do was try to keep up, to get her clothes off at the same rate she was tearing through his.

“Condom?” she asked, finally separating their lips long enough for Ace to take a full breath. He took his hands away from her chest and scrambled to find his pants. He got ahold of his wallet, pulled out the small foil packet he’d stuffed in there earlier, and that was just about the last thing he could remember clearly. 

The next thing he knew, the girl was gone, he was fully clothed, and a paramedic was questioning him. He’d… fallen asleep. And someone had called an ambulance.

At least she’d had the decency to put his clothes back on before she ditched him.

The resulting walk of shame from the cab (he _had_ been drinking, after all) to his bedroom was bad enough, only made exponentially worse by the fact that Sanji was still awake. Sanji looked pretty surprised to see him, and maybe Ace would be embarrassed if he wasn’t already mortified by the earlier incident.

“You’re home early,” Sanji commented, pausing the show he’d been watching.

“Yeah, well.” Ace shrugged. “Got tired. Figured I’d call it a night.”

Sanji definitely wasn’t buying that. He turned to face Ace properly, his eyebrows raised. “You fell asleep, didn’t you?”

_“No,”_ Ace spat, then crossed his arms.” So what if I did?”

Sanji raised his eyebrows, maybe just surprised Ace wasn’t trying to come up with any more excuses. “That shit’s not _normal,_ Ace,” he said. “You should really get checked out before you hurt yourself.”

Ace sighed and turned to start down the hallway. He wasn’t dealing with this lecture, not tonight. “I’m an adult,” he muttered, “I can handle myself.”

“You know… I’m sure that doctor you made out with is still taking appointments, if you wanna call—”

“Fuck off!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi again! just letting you know the first 2 chapters have been revised since their initial posting. there are no major plot changes, and the biggest thing is an extra scene at the end of the previous chapter. as i mentioned, i really don't know where this fic is going and am kind of just writing for the hell of it, so certain details might be inconsistent and i'll probably want to edit things later on. if you're not up for following me through the WIP process, you're always welcome to bookmark this fic until it's finished!
> 
> with that said, enjoy some more awkward shenanigans ❤️

Marco wouldn’t mind moving out of his house if it weren’t for… well, the actual _moving_ part. The packing, thankfully, was all finished, and he’d brought all his things to his new place a few days prior. The _unpacking,_ however, had yet to be done. He blamed it on his work, naturally-- but even on his day off, taking his car for a tuneup had eaten up most of his time.

Though, at least what was usually a tedious task was made a whole lot more interesting by the poor guy who’d made out with him at the club a while back. Ace had been on his mind since they’d first met, but he’d been trying his best to keep his focus elsewhere. He was definitely worried about the kid falling asleep all over the place while being too stubborn to see a professional about it. It was out of Marco’s hands at that point, though. He couldn’t take Ace on as a patient, not with the nature of their initial meeting— and certainly not with how he _felt_ about that encounter.

After another day of work, Marco found himself in what was quickly becoming a familiar position: sitting on his couch and staring at the boxes he’d pushed into the corner of the room. As usual, he was far too tired to start such a daunting task. During the weekend, maybe. Tonight, he was going to take a hot shower and turn in early.

Ah, but he had to get his mail before he did any of that.

He’d forgotten to check on his way in, as it was something he was still getting used to. In the house that he’d shared with his brothers, the mailbox was right outside the front door, and he’d taken many trips to check it in nothing but a pair of pajama pants. However, in an apartment building where there were bound to be other people wandering around, he wanted to look a little more presentable. He stood with a sigh, grabbed his keys from the coffee table, and made his way back downstairs.

One other person was standing by the mailbox, his head down as he skimmed through the letters in his hand. At a glance, Marco realized the open mailbox was just below his own. “Pardon me,” he said, reaching out with his keys towards the mailbox. “I’m right above you.”

He wasn’t expecting the man to jerk his head up and stare at him like he’d been slapped in the face. He _also_ wasn’t expecting it to be _Ace._

They locked eyes for a moment, both of them frozen in place, before Ace whipped around to leave. Something switched on the autopilot in Marco’s brain, and he grabbed Ace’s arm to stop him.

“Wait, hold on,” Marco said. He dropped his hand when he realized Ace wasn’t trying to bolt anymore. “We… we can’t keep meeting like this.” He managed a chuckle, though his smile faded when he realized Ace was staring down at the floor. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Ace finally glanced up at him, but only briefly. Marco could’ve sworn his cheeks were red. “S’fine,” Ace muttered. “Just… didn’t think I’d see you here. Of all places.”

Marco nodded and turned to unlock his mailbox, as it was pretty clear that Ace wasn’t too interested in eye contact at the moment. “Well, I just moved here a few days ago,” he explained. “And… considering we seem to be neighbors, I doubt this is the last we’ll see of each other.” There was only one envelope in Marco’s mailbox— a paycheck, probably. He grabbed it and locked up again before he turned to face Ace, who was finally looking at him. “I’m Marco, by the way. I… don’t think I ever gave you my first name.”

Ace muttered what sounded like his own name, and Marco was glad he’d already heard it from Franky, or he’d have no clue. It was definitely on his medical records, but Marco had been a bit too frazzled to pay much attention to those.

“Well, it’s nice to finally meet you properly,” Marco said. He smiled, but Ace just looked back down at the envelopes in his hand. “Are you… headed upstairs?”

“Uh, yeah,” Ace replied before he made his way towards the elevator. “See you around.”

After a moment of consideration, Marco followed after him. He was heading in the same direction, after all— also, he really wanted to figure out the reason for Ace’s strange behavior.

“We could start fresh, you know,” Marco said as he stepped into the elevator. Ace had already pushed the button for their floor, so Marco just stuffed his free hand into his pocket. “I know we met under some… questionable circumstances. But we could forget all that and just be friendly neighbors if you’re willing to put that aside.”

Ace sighed. He was still looking at his mail, and he didn’t have _that_ much to sort through, so Marco knew it was just a distraction. “You know, I’d really just rather not… do this at all,” Ace said. “There’s people who have lived in this building longer than me that I’ve never even seen before. We don’t have to be friends.”

Marco frowned. Okay, that hurt a little. Not that he and Ace really had any sort of relationship to begin with, but it was still rude. “Alright, then,” he said, regardless of what he was thinking. “Fine.”

Ace left the elevator so fast he had to force his way through the doors.

* * *

“You were gone for less than ten minutes. Why do you look like you’re about to punch something?”

Ace slammed the mail down on the kitchen table with an amount of force that was not at all necessary. Sanji was right; he was _fuming._ The encounter in the lobby had brought up a lot of feelings he’d been trying to rid himself of.

“That stupid… fucking… _doctor_ moved in right next door to us!” Ace cried. “It’s like he’s _stalking_ me! My medical records have my address on them, don’t they? That fucking _creep,_ I bet he— he looked me up and moved over here just to—”

“Ace.” Sanji put a hand on top of Ace’s fist. His knuckles were turning white. “Breathe. You’re gonna burst a blood vessel.”

“Well, shit, we’ll be just _fine_ then, won’t we?” Ace asked. “‘Cause Doctor… Doctor _Bitch_ lives right next to us. I’m sure he’ll be knocking on our door any minute!”

_“Ace,_ holy shit.” Sanji put his free hand up to his mouth, muffling a laugh, which only served to piss Ace off more. “Tell me. What has this guy _actually_ done to you, other than put up with your weird drunken advances?”

Ace finally unclenched his fist in favor of crossing his arms tightly to his chest. “He… he… I don’t _know,”_ he replied. “He was… all up in my business after I fell asleep at work, like a… like a—”

“Like a _doctor?”_ Sanji asked. His tone was so calm, Ace wanted to scream. “If I recall, you were pretty smitten with the guy when you first met him. What made you hate him so much all of a sudden?”

“I was not _smitten,_ ” Ace argued, though even he knew damn well that Sanji wasn’t too far off from the truth.

“Sure, of course,” Sanji said with a roll of his eyes. “You didn’t _talk_ to him out there, right? I really don’t feel like being on bad terms with another one of our neighbors because you can’t keep your mouth shut.”

Ace went silent. Looking anywhere but at Sanji sounded really appealing at the moment.

“Ace.”

Ace spared Sanji a glance. He looked irritated.

“Ace, what did you say to him?”

Ace huffed. “I… may have implied that I never wanna see him again,” he muttered. 

Sanji scoffed. “Oh, because that’s worked out _perfectly_ in the last couple weeks of your life,” he said. “Ace, you have to apologize to him.”

Ace shook his head. “Absolutely not.”

“Yeah,” Sanji said with a nod. “I’ll make him something tomorrow, and you can bring it over as a nice little housewarming gift.”

Ace’s eyes went wide. “No!” he said. “If _you’re_ making it, then why don’t _you_ bring it over?”

“Because _I’m_ not the one who was rude to him for no good reason,” Sanji replied. “Do you know if he has any allergies? I’ll make him some dessert.”

* * *

Ace hated everything about his current situation. No part of him wanted to visit Dr. Newgateʼs— _Marco’s_ apartment, but he knew Sanji would never let it go if he didn’t. So, there he stood, a small plate of chocolate-chip cookies in hand, trying to build up the courage to knock on the door.

He realized he could just bail if he really wanted to. Sanji wasn’t the boss of him. Sanji wasn’t even _home._ He could go back to their apartment and eat the cookies himself, make up some lie about Marco acting like a dick, and never speak to him again. In fact, he was seriously considering that course of action.

That is, until the door in front of him opened.

Marco was wearing a button-up shirt, like he’d been wearing in his office— although, now, the first few buttons were undone. Ace tried not to pay much attention to that, and instead directed his gaze to Marco’s surprised expression.

“Oh. Hello there,” Marco greeted. “You know, if you’re still trying to avoid me, I don’t think showing up at my door is a good first step.” He had a playful smile on his face while he spoke. Ace’s eye twitched.

“Yeah. Well.” Ace huffed and held out the plate of cookies. “Sorry for being an ass. My roommate made these.”

Marco looked down at the plate, still smiling as he accepted it from Ace. “Thank you very much,” he said. “Apology accepted.”

Now that his hands were free, Ace crossed his arms and looked down at the floor again. He only nodded a little in response, admittedly surprised Marco was so quick to accept his apology. 

“Would you like to come in?” Marco asked.

Ace’s head shot up, his eyes wide. “What?”

“I was about to head out and run some errands, but that can wait,” Marco said. “It’s kind of a mess in here since I’m still unpacking, but the kitchen is all cleared out. You’re welcome to stay awhile.”

Ace hesitated, glancing towards his own apartment door. He could very easily make up an excuse to leave, and subsequently avoid Marco at all costs. That sounded like a pretty solid plan.

Except, some fucked up part of his brain spoke for him instead. “Sure.”

Marco’s apartment was, as promised, a mess. There were boxes everywhere; some open, some not. The walls were barren, void of anything other than windows, and the only furniture in the living room was a couch and a coffee table. The kitchen looked a little more put together, save for the grocery bags on the counter.

Marco set the plate of cookies down on the small table before he turned to the fridge. “Want anything to drink?” he asked. “I could make some coffee or tea.”

Ace glanced at the time on his phone. While some caffeine sounded great right about then, it was past dinnertime, and he knew it would fuck up his sleep. “Just water is fine,” he mumbled.

“Sure,” Marco replied as he pulled a water pitcher from the fridge. He poured two glasses, which he then set down on either side of the table. “You can sit down, you know,” he said as he did just that. “I’m not gonna make you stand there while we make small talk.”

A bit reluctantly, Ace took the seat across from Marco. He muttered his appreciation before he took a sip of his water. He watched as Marco unwrapped the plastic wrap around the plate, then took a cookie for himself before he pushed the plate a bit towards Ace. No matter how stubborn he was, Ace was never one to pass up on Sanji’s baking. He grabbed a cookie, and while he waited for Marco to say something, he just stared down at the plate.

“So, you work at the auto shop?” Marco asked.

Ace paused for a moment to chew on his cookie. Oh, so he wasn’t kidding about the small talk. “Yeah,” he answered. “I’m a mechanic. I was just… filling in for someone at the front desk.” Marco didn’t really need to know the real reason for that, he decided.

“That seems like an interesting job,” Marco said. He took a bite of his own cookie and chewed for a moment before raising an eyebrow. “This is… really good.”

Ace shrugged. “Yeah, well. My roommate’s a chef at a fancy restaurant, so.”

Marco hummed in response. “One of my brothers is a chef, too, just outside the city,” he said. “It’s always nice to have someone like that around.”

Ace only nodded and took a sip of his water. Was he supposed to ask Marco questions, too? He already knew what the guy did for work, and he knew damn well he didn’t want to hear any more about _that_.

“So, is there a particular reason you’re so nervous around me?” Marco asked.

Ace glanced up at Marco. “That… doesn’t sound like small talk,” he said.

Marco shrugged. “Maybe not, but I’d really like to know,” he said. “I wouldn’t have you pinned as… _shy,_ considering how we first met. So I was just wondering if I’d done something to upset you.”

Ace lowered his head again, as he could feel his cheeks heating up. He was beginning to wish he’d been smart enough to refuse the offer to come in. “I thought we were gonna forget about all that,” he muttered.

“Well, it’s hard to forget when you’re still acting so strange,” Marco said. “I know we’ve had some… interesting encounters, but I’m not holding any of that against you. I meant it when I said I wanted to start fresh and be friendly with each other.”

Ace crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, the cookie long since gone. He had a few options there. He could lie, insist it was just the incident at the club, and try his best to move on. Or, he could be honest about his weird anxieties— of course, _neither_ of these options involved confessing his uncomfortable attraction to Marco. That was absolutely out of the question.

“Is it because I’m a doctor?”

Ace froze. His body was tense, and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. It was right then when his phone vibrated in his pocket, pulling him out of what was very quickly growing into another anxiety attack. It was just a text from Sanji asking if he’d actually gone through with visiting Marco, but Marco didn’t need to know that.

“Oh, shit, I gotta go,” Ace lied, tucking his phone back into his pocket as he stood from the table. His legs were shaky, but he was almost sure he could make the short walk back to his own apartment without any problems. “Thanks. Uh. Welcome to the building,” he muttered.

He didn’t even give Marco a chance to respond before he rushed out of there.

Once he got back to the safety of his apartment, Ace sent a hasty reply to Sanji:

_yeah he loved your stupid cookies and we’re best friends now. happy?_

He rolled his eyes at the thumbs up emoji he got in response. As he flopped down on the couch, he felt that familiar exhaustion creeping up on him. He was far too mentally exhausted to fight it, so he let himself doze off right then and there.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey so i kinda know where this is going now! nice!
> 
> also izo makes an appearance here and i really only know him from fanon so bear with me

Marco had yet to invite any of his brothers to his new place for a very specific reason. Currently, one of those reasons was standing in the middle of his living room, staring at him in disbelief.

“Marco, it’s been nearly a _week,_ ” Izo said, gesturing wildly around the room. “How are you still living like this?”

Marco shrugged. “It’s not _that_ bad,” he said. “I haven’t been spending a lot of time here to begin with, anyway. I’m busy.”

“ _Busy,_ ” Izo echoed with a roll of his eyes. “Well, if you have any plans today, cancel them. We’re unpacking this mess.”

Marco sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “My plans were to relax, actually,” he said, but it was too late. Izo was already heading for the boxes stacked up in the corner of the room.

All things considered, it wasn’t as bad as he’d expected. It was definitely a lot easier to set everything up with someone else’s help, and Izo’s determination to create a nice space was really rubbing off on him. In under an hour, the living room actually resembled a living room— the TV was out, the couch had throw pillows on it, and all the pictures of Marco and his family were hung up on the wall. The worst of it was finally over, and all that was left was Marco’s bedroom.

He got about halfway through folding one pair of pants before Izo snatched them from his hands, insisting he was doing it incorrectly. He sighed and focused his efforts on organizing his bookshelf instead.

“Have you met any of your neighbors?” Izo asked, initiating the first real conversation they’d had since they’d gotten started.

“Uh, yeah, there’s two people next door,” Marco said, nodding towards the wall his bed was pushed up against. “The guy I met seems… nice. I haven’t met his roommate, but I hear they’re a good cook. I’m sure Thatch would love to pester them when he visits.”

“Oh, I’m sure he would,” Izo replied as he set another neatly-folded shirt into the drawer. “This _nice guy,_ though. Tell me more about him. Is he cute?”

Marco nearly dropped the book he’d been holding, but managed to tuck it away carefully before he looked back at Izo. “What?”

“You heard me,” Izo replied, not even attempting to hide the smirk on his face. “It’s been a while for you, hasn’t it? Are you interested?”

Marco narrowed his eyes. This wasn’t the first time any of his brothers had pried into his (admittedly, rather stagnant) love life, and he knew it wouldn’t be the last. “I’m more than twice his age, Izo,” he replied. “He’s young enough to be my _son.”_

“So?” Izo shrugged. “I’m not telling you to run over there and take him to bed right now. I’m just asking a harmless question.”

Marco rolled his eyes as he stood up straight again. “I’m going to make sure we didn’t miss anything in the living room,” he said, and tried his best to ignore Izo’s smug expression as he left the room.

Later, after Izo finally left him alone, Marco heard a knock at his door. At first, he assumed his brother had forgotten something. However, when he opened the door to see _Ace,_ of all people, he smiled. “Hi there,” he greeted. “You haven’t come to apologize with more baked goods, have you?”

Ace looked a little confused for just a moment before he shook his head. “Oh, uh, no,” he answered, lowering his gaze and shoving his hands into his pockets. “I… actually wanted to ask you about something. If you don’t mind.”

Marco raised his eyebrows, his smile fading slightly. He’d almost be concerned by Ace’s body language if he wasn’t already so used to the kid acting weird around him. “Oh? Alright,” he said, and stepped aside to let Ace through the doorway. “Come on in.”

Ace seemed awfully hesitant to take him up on that offer, but he stepped inside nonetheless. He glanced around the living room before he said, “I… see you’ve unpacked.”

Marco chuckled. “Yeah, one of my brothers came by earlier today to help me finish up,” he replied. “Said he couldn’t stand to visit me again if the place was full of boxes.”

Ace nodded. “Well, it… looks nice,” he mumbled.

“Thank you,” Marco replied. Ace was still looking around the room, either already distracted or actively seeking out a distraction. “Do you want anything to eat or drink?” Marco tried.

That got his attention. Ace turned to face him again, his eyebrows raised. “Oh, uh… no, thank you,” he said. “I just… wanted to talk. If that’s alright.”

“Of course,” Marco said, and gestured towards the couch. “Have a seat.” While Ace sat on one end of the couch, Marco took the armchair beside it. Ace seemed extra jumpy today, and he didn’t want to scare him off. “What was it you wanted to talk about?”

Ace looked down at his hands in his lap, hesitating like he hadn’t been the one to initiate the conversation in the first place. “Okay, so, I know you’re not, like, _my_ doctor,” he began. “But you’re _a_ doctor, so… you know stuff. Right?”

Marco raised his eyebrows, but couldn’t help the amused little smile on his face. It wasn’t the first time a friend had come to him for medical advice, but he certainly hadn’t been expecting it from Ace. “I’d like to think so, yes,” he said with a chuckle. “Is there something wrong?”

Ace shifted in his seat, hands fidgeting in his lap. He looked so uncomfortable that Marco felt a little guilty about laughing. “Okay, so— I mean, you kinda know about this already, but for the past month or so, I’ve just been… falling asleep in the middle of the day,” Ace explained, “Completely at random. And I just wanna know what the hell is going on.” Before Marco could respond, he added, “I’m not, like... asking for medication, or whatever. It’d just be nice to know what it is and if there’s anything I can do to stop it from happening so much. You know?”

Marco hummed in thought, leaning forward so that his elbows rested on his knees. He remembered Ace mentioning the possibility of narcolepsy, but he knew not to make any assumptions without more information. “Do you have any other symptoms?” he asked.

Ace crossed his arms. His eyes moved to the coffee table, still avoiding Marco’s gaze. “Well, I sleep like shit at night, but… y’know, that’s probably ’cause I’m falling asleep during the day, right?” He shrugged. “Sometimes I get, like… I dunno. I’ll wake up in the middle of the night, and I can’t move at all, and I get really freaked out, and it’s just...” He trailed off, but the shudder that ran down his body told the rest of it pretty clearly.

“Well, that last part sounds like it could be sleep paralysis,” Marco replied, nodding slowly. “Which is... not pleasant. I’m very sorry you’re experiencing that.”

“Yeah, it sucks,” Ace muttered. He finally spared Marco a glance before he asked, “What about… the other stuff? Do you think it’s narcolepsy?”

Marco thought about that for a moment, leaning back in his chair. From his experience, they did sound an awful lot like narcoleptic sleep attacks. But in his current position, he couldn’t be entirely sure. “It could be,” he answered. “I’m no sleep specialist, though, and I wouldn’t be able to perform any tests for a formal diagnosis. Your best bet is to see someone who can give you more information than I can.”

Ace just rolled his eyes, like he’d been expecting that answer. “Okay, well… say I _do_ go to a sleep specialist, and they give me a diagnosis,” he said, “What happens then?”

Marco raised his eyebrows. “Well, it really depends on your specific case,” he said. “There’s medication you can try, lifestyle changes you can make. Again, this isn’t my area of expertise, and you’re not my patient. So you’d be better off seeing a specialist for more specific advice.”

Ace sighed. “Fine,” he mumbled, “I’ll… think about it.”

Marco nodded, though part of him doubted that would happen. Although, Ace seemed a bit more at ease now (or, at least, he seemed more irritated than anxious), so maybe he could do a little more prodding. “And depending on… where your specific anxieties lie, it might be less stressful than a regular physical,” Marco continued, and he didn’t miss the way Ace tensed up again. “More talking, less… examining.”

Ace shot him a look. “What makes you think you know anything about my…. _anxieties?”_ he asked.

Marco raised his eyebrows again. “Well, I haven’t known you for very long, but I can make an educated guess,” he answered. “My PA warned me that you were visibly nervous before I went to meet you in the exam room. You… essentially had a panic attack when I came in and greeted you. When I met you at your work, you flinched every time I touched you.” He noticed Ace flinching slightly at his words, as if saying it was just as bad as doing it. “Your boss also mentioned how stubborn you are about getting medical help when you need it,” he continued. “It doesn’t take a psychologist to figure out you have a problem with doctors, Ace.”

Ace looked away, though Marco caught a glimpse of a blush on his face. “So what if I do?” he muttered.

Marco shrugged. “Maybe it’s none of my business, but it’s… sort of in my nature to care about these things,” he replied, offering Ace a smile even though Ace seemed pretty adamant about looking anywhere else. “It’s completely fine to be nervous, you know,” he added. “But if there’s anything I can do to ease your worries, I’m more than willing to help.”

Ace didn’t answer at first. The silence dragged on for so long that Marco considered apologizing for overstepping a boundary— until Ace shook his head. “I gotta go,” he muttered, moving to stand up. Though, he didn’t make it very far, as his body went limp all at once. Marco jumped out of his seat to catch him, though Ace still managed to hit the coffee table on the way down. 

“Ace?” Marco tried as he carefully laid Ace down on the floor. He was awake, his eyes were open, but he wasn’t _moving._ “Ace, can you hear me?”

It took a moment, but Ace responded with a little twitch of his cheek before he shifted his body. With shaky hands, he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

“Itʼs okay, take it easy,” Marco said. He reached out towards Ace to help steady him, but quickly pulled back. He didn’t want to stress him out any more than he already was. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Ace replied, though the shakiness in his voice said otherwise. He sat back against the side of the couch before he looked down at his hands, which were still trembling. “That’s just… that’s never happened before.”

“No?” Marco asked as he leaned over to get a glimpse of Ace’s face. He had a small cut under his eye, likely from where he’d hit the edge of the table, and a trickle of blood was slowly making its way down his cheek. “You’re bleeding,” Marco said as he stood up. “Let me go grab my first aid kit.” He ignored Ace’s weak protests as he headed to the bathroom to do just that, relieved he’d unpacked everything and it wasn’t stuck at the bottom of a box somewhere.

By the time Marco returned to the living room, Ace seemed to have calmed down somewhat, breathing slowly while holding a hand over the cut on his cheek. He jumped at the sight of Marco kneeling down in front of him, and Marco felt a pang of guilt for startling him.

“It’s… it’s really not that bad,” Ace mumbled, pulling his knees up to his chest. “I’m fine.”

“Could I at least have a look?” Marco asked. “The edges of that table aren’t exactly… smooth. And it just barely missed your eye.”

It took a moment, but slowly, Ace lowered his hand to expose the cut. It was still bleeding, albeit slowly, and some of it had smeared off onto Ace’s hand. It didn’t look too deep, but Marco wanted to take care of it regardless. While it wasn’t on purpose, the incident was indirectly his fault.

“Would you come into the kitchen and let me clean it?” Marco asked. “You’re still bleeding. I could cover it up for you.”

Ace let out a sigh before he nodded. He refused Marco’s offer to help him up, but they made it into the kitchen without much trouble. Marco gestured for Ace to sit down at the table before he handed over a roll of paper towels. “Take one and hold it over your cheek, I’ll just be a minute.”

Ace did as he was asked, only wincing slightly when he pressed down on the cut. Marco stepped over to the sink to wash his hands, and he could feel Ace’s gaze on him all the while.

“Is all this stuff… really necessary?” Ace asked just as Marco grabbed a couple paper towels for himself to dry his hands. “It’s just a scratch.”

Marco shrugged. “I like to do these things properly,” he replied. Once his hands were clean and dry, he unzipped his first aid kit and pulled out a small packet. “This is a saline wipe,” he explained as he tore it open. “It might sting a little. Is that alright?”

“I’m not a _baby,”_ Ace muttered, though the pout on his face really wasn’t helping his case. He lowered the paper towel, which now had a small bloodstain from the cut. “Just get it over with.”

Marco couldn’t help the chuckle that passed through his lips. “Fine, then,” he replied, and reached down to tilt Ace’s chin up. “Hold still, please.”

Ace only flinched a little when Marco crouched down and started cleaning the cut, but remained still otherwise. He still seemed pretty adamant about looking anywhere but forward, and Marco could feel his pulse pounding away under his fingers. Though he was concentrated on the task at hand, he also noticed a faint blush appearing behind Ace’s freckles.

It was… kind of cute.

Once Ace’s face was clear of blood, Marco unwrapped a band-aid and placed it over the cut. “There you go,” he said, finally able to stand up straight again. He knew he’d be feeling that in his back later. “Are you alright, otherwise? You went down pretty hard back there.”

“Yep, I’m fine,” Ace insisted, pushing off the chair to stand. “I’m gonna… go. Like I said.” Before he turned away, he added, “Oh, but… thanks. Y’know, for the advice.”

Marco smiled. “It’s no problem at all,” he said. “I hope things work out alright for you.”

Ace didn’t answer, leaving Marco with only an awkward nod. Marco chuckled to himself, shaking his head while he washed his hands again.

He was pretty sure that wasn’t the last he’d be seeing of Ace. 

* * *

Monday was a quiet day at Franky’s, which made Ace’s job even more boring than usual. After the last incident, Franky had cut his hours again, to the point where he was basically working part-time. At the very least, he wouldn’t be there for too long. He missed the income, though, and he knew it wouldn’t be long before his bank account really started feeling the effects. But he knew Franky was just worried about him, so if he didn’t stop passing out all over the place, he wouldn’t be leaving reception any time soon.

Ace let out a sigh as he rested his forehead on top of the desk. He was really starting to regret that second cup of coffee, because even if he was awake and alert, his leg wouldn’t stop shaking.

“Slow day?”

Ace jerked his head up and scrambled to straighten out his posture. Getting caught with his head down wouldn’t look good for him, especially not right now.

He let out a sigh of relief when he realized that it was _not_ a customer standing in front of him, but in fact, Robin. “Oh, hey, sorry,” Ace said with a chuckle. “Yeah. Just… resting. You here to see Franky?”

Robin nodded and held up a cardboard tray that held two cups of coffee.” I got out of work early and thought I’d bring him something on the way home,” she said. “Any progress with that sleeping problem of yours?”

Ace only groaned and let his head fall back down onto the desk. Sure, he wasn’t falling asleep _today,_ not with the amount of caffeine in his body. But it was a sore subject for him, and Robin knew it.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Robin said. “Did you make it to that appointment we scheduled? I’ve heard a lot of good things about that doctor.”

Ace tried his best not to visibly cringe at the mention of Newgate— _Marco._ “Yeah, well, turns out we’d been… _acquainted_ already,” he muttered. He lifted his head, because speaking to Robin through the desk didn’t seem very polite. “He just moved in next door, anyway. So it’d be weird if I kept seeing him.” It was already weird enough as is, but he didn’t need to get into that in the middle of the lobby.

Robin nodded. She had that calculating look on her face, like she was reading his mind. It was always a little unnerving to see. “Have you found someone else, then?” she asked.

Ace let out a sigh. “That’d probably be the smart thing to do, huh?” he asked, and Robin only hummed in response. That didn’t mean he’d _done_ it, of course, but at least he was aware of it. He was having trouble making eye contact with her after that, and fiddled with a pen on the desk instead. “Could we, like… could we talk sometime?” he asked, “In private, I mean?” He finally built up the nerve to look at her, and her expression looked a lot more friendly than it had before.

“Of course,” she said. “Just let me know when you’d like to.”

Thus, Ace ended up in an empty breakroom, waiting for Robin to meet him. She said she wouldn’t be long, because she didn’t want to keep Franky from his work, but the wait seemed like an eternity anyway. He chugged almost an entire bottle of water during that time, hoping it would help flush some of the caffeine out of his system sooner.

When Robin walked into the breakroom, she had that content little smile on her face, one Ace only saw when Franky was around. Her expression shifted, albeit subtly, to more of a concerned look as she sat down at the table across from him. “So, what is it you’d like to talk about?” she asked.

Ace took a deep breath and glanced at the clock on the wall. He only had about ten minutes left on his break, so he knew he couldn’t have a complete breakdown in front of her just then, but he wanted to get some things off his chest anyway. “Okay, this… might sound kinda weird,” Ace began, hands fidgeting on the table. “But. Do you think it’s possible to be attracted to, like… girls _and_ guys?”

Robin furrowed her brow, and Ace expected the worst. He certainly did _not_ expect her to say, “Yes. Franky is bisexual.”

Ace froze, looking up at her with wide eyes. “He… _what?_ He is?”

Robin nodded, chuckling softly. “It’s not exactly a secret,” she replied. “Iʼm surprised you didnʼt know. He’s very open about it.”

Ace had to think back for a moment. Sure, he’d heard Franky make comments about guys before, in passing, but he always just sort of assumed they were jokes. “But… but he’s married to you.”

Robin shrugged. “That doesn’t negate his attraction to other people,” she said. “So, yes, it’s very possible, because a lot of people feel that way. Why do you ask?”

Ace hesitated, chewing on his lip. Sure, he felt like a massive idiot right about then, but this was _Robin_ he was talking to. She was never one to judge.

So, he told her everything.

Well— everything she _needed_ to know, anyway. He didn’t mention his own… private endeavors, of course, but he covered just about everything else. The drunken makeouts, the doctor’s appointment, Marco’s unexpected visit to his work. He talked about how he went to Marco for help the previous day, after his most recent sleep attack had nearly sent him flying down the stairs. It was, admittedly, less embarrassing than he’d expected it to be, since Robin didn’t so much as smile. She only listened patiently, nodding to show him she was still paying attention.

“So… like I said, he moved into our building,” Ace continued once he’d caught her up to that point. “And… I mean, I’m not, like, in _love_ with him or anything. I barely know the guy. But… I think he’s the first guy I’ve ever felt any sort of attraction to, and I get all nervous around him, and he keeps showing up everywhere, and it’s kinda starting to piss me off. He’s so… _nice,_ though, and it’s fucking with my head. And now he lives directly next to me, and I can’t avoid him.”

Robin hummed, like she was thinking it over. Processing the situation. “You could always try to get to know him,” she suggested.

Ace’s eyes widened. “What, like… _ask him out?”_ he asked.

Robin raised her eyebrows. “I mean, you could get to know him as a _neighbor_ first,” she said, “As a friend. Maybe if you get more comfortable around him, you’ll have an easier time sorting out your feelings.”

Ace relaxed a little. Okay. Friends. He could manage that. “I guess I can try,” he said. 

“And, who knows?” Robin added, “Maybe befriending a doctor will help you better manage your fears.”

Ace gulped. He had mentioned to her, in passing, that he had some… reservations about seeing a doctor. He’d kind of been hoping she’d forgotten about it by then. But Robin never forgot anything about anyone. “Yeah, maybe,” he muttered. 

“I’m sure you’ll be alright,” Robin said, with that warm smile on her face again. “You can always come talk to me, or reach out to Franky if you have more specific questions about your feelings. Okay?”

Ace exhaled, releasing some of the tension from his shoulders. “Okay,” he said, “Thank you.”

Even if the conversation really helped him think things out, Ace still left the breakroom feeling… conflicted. He was finally ready to admit to himself that _yes,_ initially, he was a little attracted to Marco. He probably wouldn’t have been so eager to kiss the guy otherwise, even if he _was_ drunk. And yes, the more the doctor made unexpected appearances in his life, the more Ace had grown to dislike him. But at the end of the day, he hadn’t really done anything to _earn_ that. In fact, he’d been nothing but kind to Ace.

So… perhapshe deserved a second chance. Even if he _was_ a doctor.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shout out to [Bajillian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bajillian/pseuds/Bajillian) for beta reading this fic and dealing with all my Yelling as always

Ace always looked forward to Sundays. It was the only night of the week Sanji never worked, since the restaurant was closed. And, sure, while Sanji’s _company_ was always appreciated, there were more important reasons for Ace’s excitement— mainly, dinner. Tonight’s main course was beef bourguignon, a dish Ace could never pronounce but could eat like his life depended on it. Sanji always paired it with a nice red wine, though Ace had reluctantly refused the offer since his past few experiences with alcohol hadn’t been stellar.

He found himself eating slower than usual, though it had nothing to do with the taste of his food. He just couldn’t stop _thinking,_ and his brain was too occupied to clear his plate as quickly as he usually would.

Sanji took notice, it seemed, because he decided to address it. “You’ve been quiet today,” he remarked, and he was right. Ace had helped him prepare the vegetables and set the table, but he’d barely said a word since he stepped foot in the kitchen.

“Yeah, well… I guess I don’t have much to say,” Ace said with a shrug. Of course, that was a lie— and judging by the look Sanji gave Ace from across the table, he knew it. “Okay, fine.” Ace huffed. “Yeah. I’ve got something on my mind.”

Sanji raised an eyebrow. “Anything you’d like to share?” he asked.

Ace looked down at his plate, poking at a piece of meat with his fork. “I dunno, it’s...” He sighed. “I don’t want you to think I’m weird.”

“I already think you’re weird,” Sanji said. “Yet here I am. Spit it out.”

Ace rolled his eyes, but still couldn’t bring himself to look at Sanji. Instead, he kept moving his food around his plate to distract himself. “Just… hypothetically,” he began. “Would you judge me if I had the hots for a guy?”

“Uh… no?” Sanji replied. Ace looked up to see genuine confusion on his face. “I honestly wouldn’t even be surprised.”

Ace blinked. “Wait… what?”

“It’s not like I’ve never _considered_ it,” Sanji said. “I mean, you always wanna make out with me when we’re both drunk. Even when thereʼs willing women around us. Nothing about that is heterosexual.”

“Wh— but that’s— it’s not—” Ace stuttered, getting progressively flustered as the seconds ticked by. “That’s different!”

Sanji snickered as he took a sip of his wine. “Sure it is,” he said. “But, really, Ace, I’m not bothered by it. You do you.” He shrugged before he added, “Just don’t fall in love with me unless you wanna be disappointed.”

Ace resisted a strong urge to kick Sanji under the table. “It’s not _you_ that I have a thing for,” he said.

“Oh? Then who is it?” Sanji chuckled. “It’s not that guy who just moved in, right?”

Ace went quiet. He lowered his gaze, looking down at his plate instead of Sanji. That seemed to be more than enough of an answer.

“Oh no, I was _kidding,”_ Sanji said through more laughter. “For real? Weren’t you ready to go over there and kick his ass, like, two days ago?”

“Yeah, well… I guess I changed my mind,” Ace muttered. “He’s just… he’s really nice, okay? We just got off on the wrong foot. And I feel like an ass.”

“Yeah, well, probably because you _are,”_ Sanji said. He took another sip of his wine before he asked, “So, what, are you gonna ask him out?”

 _“No,”_ Ace replied, driving his fork into a piece of meat a little harder than necessary. “He’s probably straight. Plus, he’s… _old._ Like, a fully-grown adult. He probably sees me as a kid.”

Sanji shrugged. “You won’t know unless you go for it,” he said. Ace already knew Sanji was a big supporter of the idea of ’going for it’— he had a long history of rejection to prove it. “But, I mean, you don’t have to make it a date right away. Just hang out some more and see what he’s like. You don’t know, maybe he sucks.”

Ace was pretty sure that Marco _didn’t_ suck, but Sanji had a point. And, as the second person to give him that sort of advice, he made a convincing case. “Fine,” Ace said, “I’ll… see if he wants to hang out sometime. And go from there.”

“Sounds good,” Sanji said with a chuckle before he returned to his own meal.

A comfortable silence sat between them, up until Ace spoke up again. “Hey, thanks for, uh… being cool about this,” he said. “It… you know, it means a lot.”

Sanji shrugged. “It’s no big deal,” he said. “I don’t care who you wanna fuck, as long as you don’t do it when I’m home.”

* * *

Naturally, Ace put things off for as long as he possibly could. He actively avoided Marco while he tried to figure out just how he would initiate the conversation. Every time he left his apartment, he’d scan the hallway and make sure he was alone before he stepped out the door.

Of course, that didn’t last very long, as Marco had a knack for appearing when Ace least expected it. A few days after his conversation with Sanji, when Ace was making his way into the apartment building, Marco just so happened to be doing the same.

“Oh, hello,” Marco greeted him with a smile before he held the door open for Ace. Ace mumbled his appreciation as he stepped inside— then, against his earlier instincts, he waited for Marco to catch up to him.

“How’s your face?” Marco asked, and for a moment, Ace didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. But once Marco tapped on his own cheek, it clicked.

“Oh, right,” Ace replied with a nervous little laugh. The cut on his face had since faded into nothing more than a small red mark. “It’s fine. All healed up. “

Marco smiled. “Good to hear.”

The conversation came to an end when they stepped into the elevator, and Ace briefly considered leaving it at that. They could continue their brief encounters as acquaintances, he could try to forget the fact that he’d touched himself to the thought of Marco, and they could both move on with their lives.

The only thing that pushed him forward was the fact that two people he cared about had suggested otherwise.

“Do you wanna hang out sometime?” Ace asked, the words leaving his mouth before he’d really had time to think about it.

Marco raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised by the question. Still, he kept that relaxed smile on his face. “Sure,” he said. “Anything specific in mind?”

Ace paused. He hadn’t expected Marco to agree so quickly. “Uh… I dunno,” he said with a shrug. He hadn’t really thought that far ahead. “Maybe we could go out to eat or something?” he suggested, then instantly regretted it. That was usually a _date_ thing, wasn’t it?

Regardless, Marco hummed in response. “I’m off Saturday, if you’re free for lunch.”

Slowly, Ace nodded. So this was actually happening. “I get out of work at noon,” he said. “Maybe then?”

“Sure, I could pick you up, and we could head downtown,” Marco said. “I know some nice Italian places around the North side.”

“Okay,” Ace said with another little nod. It had been a long time since he’d really _been_ to any restaurant other than the one Sanji worked at, since he considered everyone else a competitor. But… well. Sanji didn’t need to know what he was up to. “Uh, could I get your number? So we can figure out details later?”

“Of course,” Marco replied. Once they stepped out of the elevator, they exchanged cell phones to type in their numbers. When Ace got his phone back, he noticed that Marco had included his last name, and briefly wondered if he should have done the same.

“I’ll text you later in the week, then?” Marco said.

Ace nodded as he tucked his phone back into his pocket. “Yeah, sure,” he replied. “I’ll, uh… I’ll talk to you then.”

Marco smiled. “Sounds good,” he said, “See you soon.”

With that, he left Ace standing in the middle of the hallway, dumbfounded. He had _not_ expected it to be that simple.

* * *

Against his own expectations, Ace was the first to text. He asked Marco if they were still on for Saturday, and couldn’t help but smile when Marco’s reply included a :-) emoticon. However, he resisted the temptation to continue the conversation, since he wanted to get to know Marco in person.

For once, Ace was happy to be working reception, because that meant that he wouldn’t come out of work smelling like grease and sweat. He’d learned earlier in the week that one cup of coffee was more than enough, so by the time the end of his shift rolled around, the only anxiety he felt had a natural cause.

Marco showed up a few minutes early, but told Ace to take his time, so he made a point to check in with Franky before he headed out into the parking lot. A whole shift without falling asleep was a good sign for him, and he wanted to make sure his boss was aware of it.

Once he got out to the parking lot, he spotted the white car Marco had described and hopped in. “Hey,” he greeted, forcing a smile despite how nervous he was. Marco was dressed more casually than Ace had ever seen him, in just a t-shirt and jeans. It was throwing him off a little.

“Hey,” Marco replied with a smile. “Ready to go?”

“Ready,” Ace said with a nod. As they took off, he texted Sanji to let him know a friend was picking him up and he wouldn’t be home until later. Who this friend was and what they were doing, he didn’t need to know.

The ride wasn’t too long— maybe longer than it should have been, what with the traffic, but still. Marco managed to find a parking spot relatively close to the restaurant, so they didn’t have to walk far to make it in there. He’d picked out a small, cozy pizzeria, with only a few booths lining the walls. A couple customers were standing around, presumably waiting for takeout orders, but only one of the tables was occupied.

After some deliberation, they decided to split a pizza, half bacon and half veggie. When Ace took out his wallet, assuming they were splitting the cost as well, Marco simply waved it away with his hand and paid for it himself. 

While they waited for their order, they grabbed their drinks and claimed a booth by the front window. Ace had no idea what he wanted to talk about, so he was thankful Marco was the first to initiate a conversation.

“So, how was work?” he asked.

Ace shrugged. “You know, the usual,” he said. “Greeting people, answering the phone, sorting mail. Real exciting stuff.”

“Sounds like it,” Marco replied with a chuckle. “Hopefully, you’ll be able to return to your regular work soon.”

“Yeah, hopefully,” Ace said before he took a swig of his iced tea. He knew that was just more caffeine, but it wasn’t nearly as much as a cup of coffee, right? He glanced down at the label. “How’s, uh… how’s work going for you?” he asked.

Marco nodded. “Good,” he said. “Yesterday, I managed to give a 5-year-old a flu shot without a full-on meltdown, so I’d call that a successful day.”

Ace let out a little laugh. “That’s good.” He had distinct memories of getting his own shots as a kid, kicking and screaming all the way, so it made sense. That was another thing he’d neglected since he’d been living on his own— were there more shots he needed as an adult? He had no idea.

“Hey, what does your tattoo say?”

Ace lifted his head to look at Marco when he realized he’d completely zoned out. “Huh?”

“Your tattoo,” Marco said, pointing to Ace’s left side. “On your arm. I’d noticed it before, but I’ve never seen the whole thing. What is it?”

Ace glanced down. Only the C and E were visible below his sleeve— while he preferred to wear tank tops as often as he could to show it off, that wasn’t a very professional work look. Still, he rolled his sleeve up to show Marco the rest of it, the A and crossed-out S.

“What does it mean?” Marco asked. “If it’s not too personal, that is.”

Ace shrugged. “Nah, it’s fine,” he said. “It’s, uh, it’s for my family. My brothers.”

“Oh?” Marco asked. “I’ve got a family tattoo of my own, actually.” He patted his chest. “Right here.”

Ace raised his eyebrows, staring down at Marco’s chest while he rolled his sleeve back down. “Really?” he asked. “I… didn’t think doctors could _have_ tattoos.”

Marco chuckled. “It’s not like my patients ever see me shirtless,” he said. “I doubt most of my coworkers are even aware of it.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess that makes sense,” Ace replied, looking back down at his drink and trying not to imagine Marco shirtless.

“What are your brothers like?” Marco asked, changing the topic to Ace’s relief. “Do they live nearby?”

Ace shook his head. “Nah. I mean… technically, Luffy lives with me and my roommate, but he’s been out on some crazy travel expedition with his friends since last year,” he said. “The kid wants to see the whole world. You can’t keep him in one place for long. He can be a lot to handle sometimes, but, you know. We love him anyway.”

Marco chuckled. “Oh, yes, I can definitely empathize with that,” he said. “What about the others?”

Ace hesitated, fiddling with the label on his drink. He had a habit of tearing those off, but something about it seemed childish at that moment, so he didn’t want to do it in front of Marco. “Well, there’s Sabo,” he said, “But he’s not, uh… I mean. He was always kinda the mediator of the group.” He managed a little smile. “The responsible one, you know? But he went missing a long time ago, and…” He shrugged. “You know. When someone’s gone that long, you tend to assume the worst.”

Marco frowned. “I’m so sorry to hear that,” he replied.

At first, Ace only gave a half-hearted shrug in reply. He felt like kind of an idiot, bringing up his tragic family history so early on. But Marco had _asked,_ hadn’t he? “It’s okay,” he said, “He… you know, he lives on in our memories. All that sappy stuff.” He managed to look up at Marco with another little smile. “What about you?” he asked, “What’s your family like?”

“Ah… well, how much time do you have?” Marco asked with a soft laugh. “There’s fifteen of us, not counting our father.”

Ace’s jaw dropped. _“Fifteen?”_ he echoed. “Holy shit. No offense, but who in their right mind has that many kids?”

Marco chuckled and shook his head. “No offense taken,” he replied. “We’re a foster family. Most of us don’t know our biological parents.”

Ace felt a pang of guilt hit his chest. And, if possible, he felt like even more of a moron than before. “God, I’m sorry, that was… really insensitive of me,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “’Cause… us, too. I mean, the three of us grew up together, but we’re not blood-related.”

Marco nodded, still with that easygoing smile on his face. No matter how stupid Ace felt, it never seemed to go away. “No worries,” he said, “I’m glad we can find some common ground, even if it _is,_ uh… orphanhood.”

Ace cracked a smile. “Yeah, I think most people bond over hobbies and stuff,” he said with a little laugh. Despite how awkward the exchange was initially, he felt more at ease knowing Marco wasn’t bothered by it.

It wasn’t long before their pizza arrived, and Ace forced himself to grab only a single slice from the bacon side to start. He had to pace himself if he didn’t want to scare Marco off with his eating habits.

Marco, meanwhile, took two slices of veggie pizza before he started talking again. “I hope I’m not digging up a sore subject, but how’s your diagnosis search going?” he asked. “Any luck?”

Ace was glad he had a mouthful of pizza at that point, because he could take his time chewing and calm down before he answered. “Well… see, the existence of _luck_ would imply that I’ve done any more searching in the first place,” he said, carefully avoiding eye contact with Marco. “I’ve been looking for stuff I can do to manage it, though, like… drinking less coffee, taking naps, that kinda thing. I might even ask Franky if I can switch my hours with one of the part-timers, ’cause it seems to be a lot worse in the morning.”

“That’s a good start,” Marco said, and Ace was surprised the man didn’t immediately scold him. “You should really see a professional about it, though.” Ah, there it was.

“I know,” Ace replied, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He had decided before that he was going to be _nice_ to Marco, no matter what. Even if he had to not-so-subtly change the subject. “You didn’t tell me about any of _your_ brothers, though. Didn’t you say one of them was a cook?”

If Marco had any qualms about the shift in topics, he didn’t show it. He only nodded in response. “That’s Thatch,” he replied. “He’s the head chef at this Greek place near the suburbs. I’ve gotten really good at pretending to like Greek food.”

Ace snickered. “What, you’re not a fan?” he asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever tried it.”

Marco shook his head. “I can eat some of it, but a lot of the popular dishes just… aren’t my thing,” he said. “I prefer Italian. He hates it when I go to eat around here, but since we don’t live together anymore, he doesn’t need to know.”

“Oh, I _get_ that,” Ace said with a grin. “I’ve got the same thing going with Sanji. He’s the sous chef at this fancy French place, the Baratie? And, like, the guy could serve me straight garbage, and I’d probably think it’s delicious. But also, I just love _pasta,_ you know?”

Marco hummed. “Absolutely,” he said. “This street is basically all Italian restaurants. Maybe we can sneak away and try out another one sometime.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ace said with a nod. Of all the expectations he had about their time together, the absence of biological parents and a love for Italian food was not what he thought they’d be discussing. He wouldn’t complain, though— Marco’s smile practically lit up the room, and his laugh gave Ace a distinctly warm feeling in his chest. He was feeling much more relaxed than he’d been when they first arrived.

Maybe a little _too_ relaxed, because he let a yawn slip before he realized what was happening.

“Tired?” Marco asked, and Ace was quick to shake his head. He wasn’t about to let their nice outing be ruined by his inability to stay awake.

“I’ll be fine,” he replied. “M’just not built to be out and about at 8 in the morning, you know? Not used to those work hours.”

Marco hummed. “That makes sense,” he said. “But, really, if you need to head out early and get some rest, it’s not a problem. I won’t judge you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ace said with a wave of his hand. “I’ll be fine. I can take a nap when I get home.”

Of course, as his luck would have it, he was wrong about that. He managed to get through his half of the pizza while they continued chatting about their jobs and their families. Marco was interested in hearing about Luffy’s traveling endeavors, while Ace was mostly just curious about how Marco kept track of all 14 brothers.

Still, even though he was engaged in the conversation, Ace could feel himself slipping away. There was nothing he could do about it. Marco was still talking to him, and he didn’t want to interrupt, even if just to say, “Hey man, I know I just told you I wouldn’t fall asleep, but I’m about to faceplant onto this table.”

No, instead, he just did it without warning.

By the time he woke up, he was in an entirely different location, which initially caused him to panic. However, once he sat up and looked around, he realized he’d been there before— Marco’s apartment. In fact, Marco was right there, standing beside the couch Ace was sitting on.

“Hey, Ace?” Marco said with a little wave, his concern evident in his expression. “Hey. You fell asleep at the restaurant. I didn’t want to just… break into your apartment, so I brought you back to mine. Are you alright?”

Ace furrowed his brow. What? Marco had _brought_ him here? Had he _carried_ him? Ace felt warm all of a sudden. “How… how long was I out?” he asked.

Marco looked down at his watch. “About… a half hour, maybe?” he said. “Give or take.”

“Shit, really?” Ace muttered, running a hand through his hair. It had never lasted that _long_ before. Usually, he only drifted off for a few minutes at a time, and could easily get right back to whatever he was doing. A _half hour_ was just plain ridiculous. “Alright… fuck.” He shook his head. “Okay. What were you saying before about a sleep specialist?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a city i live near has an area that is just Full of italian restaurants and very good food and i miss being able to go places so i'm living vicariously through these two


	6. Chapter 6

Marco had been so unbelievably kind to Ace that it was almost annoying. Regardless of how abrasive Ace had been at times, he was always patient and willing to help. Ace really didn’t understand, but he wasn’t about to complain.

After Ace agreed to see a sleep specialist, Marco spent a couple days searching for one to recommend. Then, he texted Ace a name and number— a colleague of a colleague, he said, and apparently pretty laid-back. Still, it took Ace a couple more days to actually _call_ the number, even though he knew he’d only be talking to a secretary.

The demand for such specialists was much higher than he’d expected, and the first appointment he could get was a few weeks out. At the very least, that made it a little easier to agree, since he knew he’d have some time to prepare himself before he actually had to go through with it.

He texted Marco to update him on the situation, and promptly ignored the man’s follow-up message about finding a new primary care physician. He had to take these things one step at a time, after all. He would take the next few weeks to prepare, keeping a log of his sleeping habits as instructed. He’d deal with the appointment when the time came, and anything after that… well, he could worry about that later.

With all that out of the way, Ace felt a little better about going into work the next day. He even left the house a little early because he wanted to catch Franky before the shop opened to the public. As expected, he found him in his office, and a gentle knock on the doorframe got his attention.

“Hey, you’re early,” Franky said, glancing up at the clock on the wall. “What’s up?”

“Uh, I wanted to talk to you about switching my hours around?” Ace said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He rarely found himself nervous around Franky, since Franky was such an easygoing guy, but the subject matter had him feeling a little tense. “I realized I tend to fall asleep more in the morning than any other time of day. So, maybe I could switch with the afternoon guy or something?” He didn’t know the kid’s name. The part-timers switched out so often, it was hard to keep track.

“Sure, I could look into it,” Franky replied with a shrug. “Any updates on that whole situation, by the way?”

Ace raised his eyebrows. “Oh! Actually, I’m seeing a doctor in a few weeks,” he said, quite proud of himself despite how anxious he felt. “So, in the meantime, I’m just try’na… you know. Sleep better. Adapt.”

“Well, that’s good,” Franky said with a smile. “Maybe you can start working on some cars again soon, huh?”

Ace nodded. He was eager to work in the garage again, even if that meant he had to face his fears. “Yeah, I’ll keep you updated,” he said.

Franky smiled before he looked back down at the papers on his desk. It seemed he thought the interaction was over. Despite how much Ace was dreading the _other_ topic he wanted to discuss, he stood his ground.

“I, uh… I actually wanted to talk to you about something else, too,” he said. “Personal, not… work-related.”

Franky lifted his head again, his eyebrows raised. He set the papers down and leaned back in his chair. “Sure, bro,” he said. “Wanna sit down?”

Ace took a quick glance back into the hallway before he stepped into the office, pulling the door shut behind him. He took one of the seats in front of Franky’s desk, and even though this was _Franky_ and he wouldn’t hurt a fly, Ace still couldn’t help feeling like he was about to do something wrong.

Still, the words spilled from his mouth without any warning. “How did you know you were bisexual?”

Franky blinked, but he only looked surprised for a moment before he just chuckled. “Uh, well, my first real crush was a childhood friend of mine,” he said. “Who, despite my hopes, turned out to be straight. And… I honestly didn’t think I liked women until I met Robin.”

Ace raised his eyebrows. That certainly wasn’t the answer he’d been expecting. But, even if their experiences weren’t the same, maybe Franky could still give him some meaningful advice. “How old were you when you met her?” he asked.

“Just a couple years older than you, actually,” Franky answered. “And, yeah, I’d only dated guys up until that point. But when I saw her, I just...” He shook his head and let out a wistful sigh. “I just _knew,_ you know?”

Ace shook his head. He had no idea, actually. “How did you _know,_ though?” he asked, “That it wasn’t just, like… some kinda fleeting curiosity?”

Franky shrugged. “Well, yeah, I had that sort of suspicion at first,” he said. “I knew she was beautiful, but I wasn’t sure I actually wanted to _date_ her until we got to know each other a little better. The initial attraction was enough for me to give it a try, though.”

Ace nodded slowly. Franky was the third person to give him that same ʼ ’get to know him better’ advice, even if he hadn’t meant to. Ace knew for sure that he was _attracted_ to Marco, even if it took him a while to come to terms with it. But, really, how could he know if he had any other feelings unless they spent some more time together?

“Got your eye on someone?”

When Ace looked up, he knew he was blushing. Franky had apparently been out of a daze long enough to catch Ace in his own. “Ah… maybe,” he said with a little shrug. “Kinda. I appreciate the insight.”

“Of course, bro,” Franky said with a smile. “You know me and Robin always have your back if you ever need to talk about anything.”

Ace nodded, and managed a little smile in return. He was glad to have the two of them in his life, even if it _was_ embarrassing to discuss his issues at times.

* * *

While Marco was (technically) forbidden from going to restaurants not run by his brother, bars were fair game. In fact, Thatch had insisted they make it a frequent habit to go out for drinks together, since they weren’t living together anymore.

It was still pretty early in the evening, so the place wasn’t too crowded. Thatch always appreciated a quiet establishment, since the kitchen he worked in could get pretty hectic. Marco was just happy to be drinking somewhere other than a nightclub where a drunk person might grab him and kiss him, for instance.

“So, what have you been up to now that you’re living all on your own?” Thatch asked, swishing his drink around in his glass. Before Marco could respond, he raised his hand. “Don’t say work. I know you’re working.”

Marco sighed. “Well, you know what I’m up to, then,” he said. “Nothing particularly exciting.”

“Oh, now I _know_ that’s a lie,” Thatch replied. “Izo told me you met your neighbors. Said one of them is cute.”

Marco furrowed his brow. He knew he should have expected word of Ace to spread like wildfire, but _still._ “Izo hasn’t even _seen_ the guy,” he said. “How would he know?”

Thatch wagged a finger at him. “Ah, so you’re not denying it?”

Marco just rolled his eyes. “He’s a _kid,_ Thatch,”he said. “He’s barely old enough to drink. It’s not my place to say whether he’s ’cute’ or not when I’m more than twice his age.”

“Oh, that doesn’t matter,” Thatch said with a shrug. “He’ll get older eventually.” Marco just put his head in his hands.

Thankfully, the topic changed shortly after that, as Thatch started rambling on about his restaurant’s newest cook. Fresh out of college, arrogant, ’thinks he’s hot shit’ (in Thatch’s words). Marco listened as best he could, laughing when it seemed appropriate, even though his mind was elsewhere.

Yeah, okay. Ace was cute. Objectively attractive, for sure. He had a lovely smile, all those freckles, and a really nice body— not that Marco had allowed himself much of a look, unless it had been medically necessary. But none of that mattered, because Marco was _not_ about to pursue him.

A poke on his arm startled him out of his thoughts. “Alright, turkey,” Thatch said, earning a glare from Marco. “What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing,” Marco said, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. “What were you saying? I missed that last part.”

“I stopped talking a few minutes ago. You’ve just been staring off into space.” Thatch chuckled. “Come on. What’s up with you?”

Marco let out another sigh. His glass was nearly empty, and he was starting to feel pleasantly buzzed. So, maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe he just really needed to talk things out. Either way, he answered with honesty.

“The kid who lives next door,” Marco began. “I’ve been… helping him.” He noticed the suggestive look Thatch was giving him, and delivered a swift kick to his calf. “With a _medical problem,_ you _ass._ He needs to see a doctor, but he’s anxious about it, so I helped him find someone.”

“Oh, how sweet of you,” Thatch replied, though he still had a smug little grin on his face. “But why don’t you just treat him yourself, Dr. Newgate?”

Marco pursed his lips. That didn’t need to know the details of their first few meetings. He’d never hear the end of it. “For the same reason I don’t treat you,” he answered. “There’s a conflict of interest.”

“He’s not family,” Thatch pointed out.

“Yes, but I already _know_ him.”

“And… you’re attracted to him?”

If looks could kill, Thatch would be dead right then and there. Still, he kept beaming at Marco, waiting for a response.

Marco let out a long, exasperated sigh and placed his elbows up on the bar so that he could rest his head in his hands again. “Okay,” he said, “Okay. Maybe I _am_ attracted to him. But it doesn’t _matter._ He’s 21 years old, he’s in a very vulnerable position at the moment, and he has a fear of doctors. I’m not going to start hitting on him and make things harder for him.” He didn’t even have to look at Thatch to know he was about to turn that last statement into some sort of innuendo. _“Don’t.”_

“Fine, I won’t,” Thatch said, despite his snickering. “First of all, I think it’s really cute that you have a little crush, even if it’s causing you this much turmoil.” He paused. “Actually, _especially_ with the turmoil. I haven’t seen you get this worked up over a guy since high school.” Marco only looked up to glare at him again. “Second, I totally respect your decision to leave him alone right now. I know you’re not the type of person to take advantage of someone like that, and honestly, I’d probably kick your ass if you did.”

Marco cracked a smile. Even if his brother could be an ass at times, he had a lot of heart. “Good. I wouldn’t expect any less of you.”

“But, you know,” Thatch continued, “Once this all blows over for him, and you and your ethics have settled down, you should totally go for it. Maybe he’s young, but he’s still an adult who can make his own decisions. If he’s not interested, he can just say so, and you can move on.”

Marco sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Sure, but what if he’s not even interested in men, and he thinks I’m some sort of predatory creep?” he asked.

Thatch raised an eyebrow. “Marco, I’ve known you for basically your whole life,” he said. “You’re too nice to come off that way. Plus, you’re worrying about something that’s not even happening yet. Just keep doing what you’re doing. I’m sure he appreciates that you’re taking the time to help him.”

Marco nodded slowly. Hopefully, he _did_ appreciate it. Ace was finally going to see someone, at least, even if he had plenty of time to back out beforehand. “Please don’t tell anyone about this,” he said. “I mean it. I don’t need everyone freaking out and blowing it out of proportion.”

Thatch put his hands up. “You got it,” he said, “I can keep a secret.”

Somehow, Marco doubted that, but he decided to trust Thatch regardless.

They managed to enjoy the rest of their evening together without discussing Marco’s feelings for his neighbor. As the bar started to fill up, and its patrons got drunker and drunker, they decided to call it a night and head out.

Marco had only had a couple drinks, but he took a cab home regardless. His car was back at his apartment, and Thatch was in no position to drive, so it seemed like the best option. The apartment building was quiet, much nicer than the chatter that filled the bar, and Marco let out a sigh of relief as he headed towards the elevator.

He stopped in his tracks when he caught a glimpse of something at the bottom of the stairs.

Or, rather… some _one._ Ace was passed out on the floor, sprawled out on his back, right in the middle of the doorway.

Marco glanced around the lobby, but didn’t spot anyone else nearby. Ace was alone; he’d been unconscious on the floor for God knows how long, and ofcourse, Marco was the one to find him. Briefly, he considered going upstairs on his own to ask Ace’s roommate for help. But leaving Ace out there by himself didn’t sit well with Marco, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Even though he’d done it before, Marco was still surprised by how easy it was to carry Ace. His own strength was nothing to scoff at, but Ace was so _muscular_ that he expected it to be much harder. Regardless, he managed to scoop Ace up into his arms and bring him to the elevator with little trouble, just like last time.

Ace stayed asleep the whole way upstairs, blissfully unaware of what was going on. Though, at some point, he shifted to wrap his arms around Marco’s neck. It was just instinctual, it seemed— at least the extra support made it a little easier to carry him.

When Marco got to the right apartment, he knocked on the door, hoping Ace’s roommate would be around this time. Ace probably had keys on him, but Marco wasn’t about to barge in uninvited.

Thankfully, a tired-looking blond man opened the door. “Don’t tell me you forgot your—” He cut himself off as he stared up at Marco, then down at Ace. “Oh. Uh… hi.”

“Hello,” Marco greeted, making a point to show his friendliest smile. “I found him like this at the bottom of the stairs and figured I should bring him somewhere… safer.” He paused before he added, “I’m Marco. I live next door.”

The man raised his eyebrows, his sour expression quickly turning into a smile. “Oh! I’m Sanji, I made you cookies the other day,” he said. “Come on in. You can put him to bed.”

Marco hesitated for only a moment before he stepped into the apartment, careful not to bump into anything along the way. Sanji closed the door behind them before he led Marco into a small, messy bedroom. The bed wasn’t made, and the blankets were hanging off onto the floor, mixing in with a pile of clothes. It seemed… oddly fitting, for Ace. He didn’t want to spend too much time looking around, though, since Ace was still asleep in his arms and Sanji was staring up at him.

“Could you get his shoes?” Marco asked. Sanji nodded before he untied Ace’s boots, then slid them off before he set them down by the door. Carefully, Marco set Ace down on his bed, but when he let go, he realized he had a problem: Ace’s arms were still tightly wrapped around his neck.

He tried to pry Ace’s arms apart, but the man had quite a grip. He sighed as he leaned forward to take some of the weight off of his neck, then put a hand on the mattress to keep himself upright. “Ace?” he spoke softly, hoping maybe he could coax Ace’s sleeping brain into letting him go. “Ace, you’re in your bed. You can let go now.”

Still, Ace didn’t budge. When Marco looked over his shoulder to get some help, Sanji was nowhere to be seen. Of course, when he turned back to the bed, he found himself face to face with a wide-eyed, blushing Ace.

“...Marco?” Ace asked, his voice cracking slightly. Whether it was because he just woke up, or he was just as mortified as Marco was, he couldn’t tell.

“Ace,” Marco answered. Ace still hadn’t let _go._ Why wasn’t he letting go? “You fell asleep in the lobby. Sanji let me in.”

“Sanji?” Ace echoed, and abruptly removed his arms from Marco’s shoulders. He sat up just as quickly, and would’ve definitely headbutted Marco if he hadn’t moved back in time. “Shit, I’m sorry. Thanks for, uh…” He shook his head. “Thanks.”

“It’s no problem,” Marco replied with a gentle smile. “You’re not hurt, are you? I wasn’t sure if you’d fallen down the stairs or not.”

Ace shook his head so fast that it looked like it hurt. “Nope, I’m fine,” he said with a nervous little laugh. “Totally fine. No worries.”

“If you’re sure,” Marco replied. He was still leaning against the mattress, and their faces were inches away from each other. It was the closest they’d been since the first time they met. But when Marco realized Ace could probably smell the alcohol in his breath, he stood up straight again. “Maybe take the elevator next time?” he suggested.

Ace broke their eye contact then, looking down at his lap instead. “Yeah, maybe,” he mumbled. “Uh, thanks again.”

“No worries,” Marco said, and turned to leave. However, before he made it to the door, he glanced over his shoulder. “Goodnight.”

“Night,” Ace replied. He was smiling again, and though it was subtle, it was enough to make Marco smile back.

Ah, yeah. He was definitely cute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not too much interaction with these two dorks this time around, but rest assured there will be next time!


	7. Chapter 7

All Ace wanted to do was change into his pajamas and turn in for the night. Unfortunately, just as he climbed out of bed, Sanji materialized in the doorway.

“I’ve gotta say, you have pretty good taste in guys.”

Ace blinked. “What?”

“Marco. He seems really sweet,” Sanji explained, “Concerned about your safety, picking your sorry ass up from the dirty floor to put you to bed. It’s cute.”

Ace promptly turned to face his dresser, because he didn’t want to give Sanji the satisfaction of seeing him blush. “Did he actually _offer_ to put me to bed like that?” he asked, “Or was that your doing?”

“How it happened isn’t important,” Sanji said. “My point is, he clearly cares about your wellbeing. He has my approval.”

Ace rolled his eyes. “Gee, thanks,” he said, as if he’d been seeking Sanji’s approval in the first place. “Close the door on your way out, would you?”

“Of course,” Sanji said, but not without snickering. “Goodnight, sleeping beauty. I hope your prince returns soon.”

Ace let out a sigh. He was starting to regret confiding in Sanji.

* * *

He was in the exam room again.

The atmosphere was even worse than the first time he’d been there— freezing cold air, blinding white lights hovering over him. The thin gown he wore did nothing to keep him warm, but at least he knew his blood was still pumping by the way his heart pounded in his chest.

When the door creaked open behind him, he felt an overwhelming sense of dread.

“Ace?”

He tensed. He knew that voice.

“I didn’t think you’d come back.”

Ace whipped his head around so fast, he was surprised he didn’t hurt his neck. Marco was standing right beside the exam table in his work attire, white lab coat and all. The first several buttons on his dress shirt were undone to reveal a smooth, broad chest.

“You’re here for an exam, aren’t you?”

Ace couldn’t speak.

He wouldn’t even have the chance to, anyway, because Marco grabbed his head and pulled him into an impassioned kiss. It took his breath away— had he even been breathing to begin with? He decided it didn’t matter, not when Marco was pushing him to lie down on the table with those warm hands of his.

“There’s no need to be nervous, Ace,” Marco said, his lips brushing against Ace’s jaw while his hips rolled forward. “I’ll take good care of you.” The rough fabric of his pants felt like heaven against Ace’s cock— but, wait, when did he get so hard? When did he get _naked?_

Marco kept talking, but Ace was too far gone to process anything he was saying. He didn’t know grinding alone could feel so _good—_ all Marco was doing was moving his hips and kissing his neck, but he felt like he was about to explode.

Before he could even _think_ about doing just that, a loud beeping sound scared him half to death.

Ace lifted his head from his pillow and reached around blindly to look for his phone. Once that awful noise finally stopped, he noticed the drool dripping from his chin and wiped it off with the back of his hand. He’d left a small dark spot on his pillow, and while that really wasn’t anything new, he—

Wait.

He grimaced when his hips shifted against the mattress. He’d left another wet spot, it seemed, and he thanked his lucky stars he’d spent the night in his own bed instead of the lobby. He hadn’t had a wet dream in _years,_ and while he could enjoy a sexy fantasy every now and then, this was just plain _ridiculous._ How the hell was he supposed to be friends with Marco when his brain decided to cook up something like _that?_

He gave himself a few minutes to let the shame sink in before he dragged himself out of bed to strip the sheets. At the very least, Sanji wouldn’t be home at that time of day, so Ace could just take a shower and pretend like nothing happened. Maybe he could avoid Marco for a little while longer, to give himself time to recover.

Of course, when he looked at his phone, he realized that would be much harder than he thought.

_Marco Newgate - 10:32 AM_  
_Hey! Are you free tonight? I was thinking we could try another one of those Italian places for dinner._

Ace let out a groan as he dropped his phone onto the bed. He’d deal with that later.

Compared to his morning, he had a pretty uneventful day at work— it was busy enough that he didn’t have a lot of time to get lost in his thoughts, and for that, he was thankful. With a new schedule and a good night’s sleep, he felt much more alert than usual, and only dozed off briefly during his break. All around, he was feeling a lot better about his job, and he was sure to report back to Franky before he headed home for the day.

It was only after he finished his takeout dinner that he realized he’d completely forgotten to reply to Marco. Apparently, he’d been doing a better job of not thinking about it than he’d expected. He looked back at the text, mortified that he’d taken nearly _nine hours_ to respond, and frantically typed up a response.

_i’m so sorry i didn’t answer earlier! i saw this when i was getting ready for work and got distracted_  
_i already had dinner and i’m assuming you have too, but we could still do something if it’s not too late for you?_

Marco’s response came much faster than he’d expected it to.

_Of course, don’t worry about it! Feel free to drop by whenever you’d like. I just have to change out of my work clothes._

The phrase ’work clothes’ brought back some memories from that morning that Ace didn’t care to recall, but he simply shoved those thoughts down before he went to his room to change his own clothes.

* * *

When Marco opened his apartment door, he greeted Ace with a smile. “Hey,” he said, and tried not to look too concerned when Ace immediately broke eye contact. “I was thinking, maybe we could… go for a walk in the park across the street? I spent half my day sitting at a desk.”

“Uh, yeah, sounds good,” Ace replied, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Neither of them spoke a word as they made their way downstairs and out of the building. Marco was hoping Ace was either saving his talking points for the park, or maybe he’d just take a few minutes to warm up to Marco again. They hadn’t spoken properly since they went out together the week before, after all, and the previous night’s events were probably a little embarrassing for Ace.

As they started on the sidewalk that bordered the park, Marco thought maybe he could reassure him a bit. Talk it out. “Did you get to sleep alright last night?” he asked.

Ace’s reaction to the question was not at all what Marco expected. He nearly tripped over his own feet, then stuttered for a moment before he asked, “What?”

Marco frowned. Had he been so tired that he’d forgotten what happened? “You know, once you made it out of the lobby,” he elaborated. “I’d assume you… slept better in your own bed, right?”

Ace’s posture relaxed. “Oh. Uh, yeah,” he said, “Definitely. Thanks again for, uh… the transportation.”

“Don’t mention it,” Marco replied. “It’s not like I had to make much of a detour to get you home, after all.” He heard a laugh in response, and it seemed like Ace was loosening up a bit. Maybe Marco was right; he just needed some time to get comfortable again.

A couple minutes of silence passed, and Marco considered asking Ace about work again. It was a predictable topic, sure, but at least it would get them talking.

“So, I did some more research,” Ace began, interrupting Marco’s thoughts. “Y’know, about the whole… narcolepsy thing.”

“Oh?” Marco asked. He’d planned on avoiding the topic altogether, and he certainly wasn’t expecting Ace to bring it up on his own. “Find anything interesting?”

“Yeah, you know that time I was at your place, and I just sort of… hit the floor?” Ace asked, “And I had no idea what was going on?”

Marco nodded. It wasn’t an easy incident to forget.

“Well, turns out that’s a _thing_ with narcolepsy,” Ace continued, “Sometimes your muscles just… stop working the way they’re supposed to. And you go limp.”

Marco raised his eyebrows. “Cataplexy?” he asked, and Ace nodded. “I had a feeling it might be something like that. Has it happened any more?”

“Not yet, but it’s just another thing to worry about, you know?” Ace huffed. “Also. I was reading about sleep studies, and they sound _awful._ I don’t have to do any of that, right?”

Marco didn’t respond at first. He’d neglected to mention anything of the sort for just that reason. “Well… you don’t _have_ to do anything,” he answered. “You have a right to refuse any testing or treatment a doctor offers. But, in order to get an accurate diagnosis, a sleep study might be necessary.” He knew for sure that it would be, but he didn’t want to freak Ace out any more. “It’s really not as bad as it sounds, though. I promise.”

Ace shook his head. “No, I… don’t think I’m gonna bother getting a diagnosis, then,” he said. “I can’t deal with all that.”

Marco frowned. “Ace, you could at least go and _talk_ to the specialist,” he said. “That sort of thing wouldn’t even happen during your first appointment, anyway. They’ll just ask you about your sleeping habits, perform a quick exam, and—”

Ace stopped dead in his tracks, and Marco stumbled in the process of turning around to face him.

“You… didn’t say there was gonna be an exam.”

Marco furrowed his brow. Ace looked like he was about to make a run for it. “I didn’t?” Marco asked. “I’m sorry. I figured you knew that was part of it.”

Ace crossed his arms tightly against his chest. “No,” he said. “When you told me it’d be more of a conversation than anything else, I thought you meant it was _just_ that. That’s why I agreed to go in the first place.”

Marco shook his head. “I’m sorry I gave you that impression, but they’ll definitely have to do more than just _talk_ to you to see what’s wrong,” he said. “I can promise you it’s not going to hurt, if that helps.”

“It’s not— that’s not the _problem,”_ Ace replied, shaking his head. Even under the dim streetlights, Marco could tell that Ace’s breaths were getting faster, and that was not a good sign. “I… I think I’m gonna cancel.”

Marco took a cautious step forward. “Ace, I really think you should go,” he said. ”It’s nothing invasive, I promise.”

He reached out towards Ace, and apparently did so just in time.

Without warning, Ace collapsed, his head dropping and his body going limp. It looked suspiciously like the previous cataplexic incident; only this time, Marco caught Ace before he hit the ground. He held him up with both hands under his arms, and let his head rest on his shoulder.

“Ace?” Marco tried. He didn’t know enough about cataplexy to know how responsive Ace would be during the episode, but it didn’t matter, because Ace’s head snapped up a moment later. He groaned, lifting a hand towards his neck while he stood up straight again. He seemed to be able to support his own weight, but Marco kept his hands on his sides just in case. “Ace, are you alright?”

Slowly, Ace nodded. His breathing had calmed down, at least, but it was still unsteady. “Everything just… gave out again,” he muttered. “Shit. That hurt my neck.”

“Here, why don’t you sit down for a minute?” Marco asked, but he didn’t wait for an answer. He just ushered Ace over to a bench nearby, and didn’t pull his hands back until Ace was seated.

“I’m… really sorry about all this,” Ace muttered, staring down at the ground as Marco sat beside him. “I’ve been such a mess lately, and you just keep getting dragged into it.”

Marco shook his head. “There’s no need to apologize,” he said. “I understand that you’re going through something stressful, and I don’t mind helping where I can.” He noticed Ace was rubbing the back of his neck. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” Ace replied quickly. “Probably just… strained a muscle or something. It’s not that bad.”

Marco nodded, but kept a careful eye on Ace as he rolled his head around to stretch his neck. He seemed much calmer now, though he looked more embarrassed than anything else.

Against his better judgement, Marco decided to ask some more questions.

“Do you… have any idea what it is about medical exams that cause you so much stress?” he asked.

Ace visibly tensed at the question. He didn’t answer right away, just rolled his shoulders a few times before shoving his hands into his pockets. “I dunno, I just… don’t like the idea of someone… poking and prodding at me,” he muttered. “Gives me the creeps.” He shuddered, seemingly at the mere thought of it.

“That’s understandable,” Marco replied. “I don’t think anyone likes that sort of thing. But… do you think getting to know the doctor beforehand might help?”

Ace took another moment to think, tilting his head back to look up at the night sky. “Maybe,” he said with a shrug. “I don’t know. But isn’t that a whole thing, doctors aren’t supposed to treat people they know?”

“I’m not saying you have to be _friends,”_ Marco replied. “But you’re allowed to schedule an appointment just to talk, you know. It’s important to trust your doctor, and if you need to have a conversation or two to get to that point, that’s fine.”

Ace finally looked at him then, his brow furrowed in confusion. “What are we supposed to talk about?” he asked.

“Well, your health concerns would be a good start,” Marco said. “It would be like when we spoke in my apartment, except they’d have access to your medical records and could give you more specific answers.” He offered a smile. Maybe it wasn’t the best comparison, because he could tell Ace still wasn’t entirely comfortable around him. But he hadn’t had another panic attack since the first one, so at least they were making progress.

Ace looked down at the ground again and took a deep breath. “I guess,” he replied. “Just… the whole _atmosphere_ freaks me out. And I feel like, especially now that there’s so much buildup, and I really need to get this shit done, it’s so much worse.”

Marco nodded slowly, taking Ace’s words into consideration. “Would it help if you had a better idea of what you were getting into?”

Ace lifted his head slightly. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, if I brought you into the office while itʼs closed to take a look around, would that ease any of your worries?”

Ace shifted where he sat. The question seemed to invoke _some_ sort of feeling, though Marco couldn’t tell what it was. _“Just_ to look around?” he asked.

Marco raised an eyebrow. “Of course,” he said. “What, do you think I’m going to trick you into seeing a doctor?”

Ace let out a huff. _“No,_ I just…” He shook his head. “Nevermind. Maybe. I’ll think about it.”

Marco nodded. Thinking about it was better than nothing, he supposed. “Are you alright to walk around some more?” he asked. They were due for a topic change.

“Yeah, sure,” Ace replied. He stood from the bench, swayed on his feet, and promptly sat back down.

“...Ace?” Marco said, and got something that vaguely resembled a nod in reply. “Take your time,” he added, his voice softer now.

Ace was staring off into space, his eyelids drooping and his posture sinking lower. He looked like maybe he was trying to resist, but he lost that fight and ended up slumping forward as he drifted off to sleep.

Maybe they could sit for a little while longer.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO ALL IT'S BEEN A WHILE
> 
> i wanted to say thanks for everyone who has started following this fic over the past couple months! it's slow to update because i've been working on a Ton of other writing projects, but i don't plan on dropping it any time soon!
> 
> i also wanted to let yall know that just today, i've updated the chapters before this one. it's nothing too big or plot-changing, just making things sound a little smoother.
> 
> with all that said, enjoy! <3

Ace woke up with something soft under his head.

It was nice, much more pleasant than the many times he’d found himself on the floor. Though, when he realized the soft surface was a pair of thighs, and there was only one person they could possibly belong to, he tensed up.

“Ace?”

In his rush to sit up, Ace’s head collided with Marco’s. Marco hissed in pain, holding a hand to his jaw. “Oh, god, I’m so sorry,” Ace said, lifting his own hand to the side of his head where the impact had been. “Are you okay?”

“Fine, fine,” Marco replied with a soft chuckle that helped to reassure Ace. “Are you?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Ace replied, despite how mortified he felt. “I… I’m sorry, how long was I out?” 

Marco looked down at his watch. “Maybe… five minutes or so?” he replied. “You started to fall over towards me, so I just put you down and let you rest. Better to use _me_ as a pillow than the ground, right?”

Ace let out a nervous little laugh. Right. Heʼd had his head on Marcoʼs thighs. For the past five minutes. “Thanks for lookinʼ out for me,” he said. “I… think that’s a sign I should get going.”

Marco nodded. “Are you okay to walk?” he asked as he stood up. “I don’t want you falling over on the way back.”

Ace raised his eyebrows. Heʼd somehow forgotten they were heading back to the same building, and he couldnʼt escape the situation that easily. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be fine,” he replied as he stood from the bench. “Don’t worry about me.”

The majority of their walk was quiet, to Aceʼs relief. Peaceful. It was only after they crossed the street that Marco spoke up again.

“The office is closed on Sundays,” he said. “It’ll be completely empty. Save for a custodian, maybe, but they usually don’t stop by until nighttime.”

Ace took a deep breath. After his little nap, he’d almost forgotten about Marco’s offer. “Do you… really wanna go into work on your day off?” he asked.

Marco shrugged. “I don’t mind,” he said. “I doubt you’d want a tour while the place is crowded, right?”

Ace nodded. There he was, being _considerate_ again. “If it’s really not that much trouble, I guess we could… try,” he said. “As long as it’s after noon, ’cause I’m barely functional in the morning.”

Marco chuckled. “That’s fine,” he said. “How about we leave at two?”

“Sounds good,” Ace replied, even though it didn’t sound that good. More… terrifying, actually. As they made their way up to their respective apartments, and Marco left Ace off with a friendly wave, Ace couldn’t help but wonder what the hell he’d gotten himself into.

* * *

When Sanji asked where Ace was headed off to, Ace only said he was going out with friends. He knew it was a bad idea to lie about his whereabouts, especially to his roommate, but he didn’t know how to explain what he was doing that day. Something like “I’m getting a tour of a doctor’s office so I can get medical help without having another panic attack” would only raise more questions, and he didn’t have time for an interrogation.

Apparently, Ace’s anxiety was pretty obvious, because Marco frowned at the sight of him in the lobby.

“We don’t have to do this.”

Ace sighed. “I know I don’t _have_ to,” he said. “But you think it’s gonna help, right?”

Marco shrugged. “I hope so,” he said. “I’m just saying that you can back out if you’ve changed your mind.”

Ace took a deep breath. As appealing as backing out sounded, he still wanted to go through with it. Sure, he could get pretty anxious around Marco, but he still _trusted_ him. He knew that if anything bad happened, Marco would take care of him.

He tried not to think too much about Marco _taking care of him_ during the ride to the office.

While Marco pulled his keys out of his pocket to unlock the door, he glanced back towards Ace. “How are you doing?” he asked. “You haven’t said much since we left.”

“Fine,” Ace answered, half-lying. They hadn’t even stepped inside of the building yet, so he really had nothing to stress about, but the suspense was really starting to get to him. “Are you sure we’re allowed to be here when it’s closed?”

Marco raised his eyebrows. “I have a key, don’t I?” he asked as he pushed the door open. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve dropped by here after hours plenty of times before. We’re not breaking any rules.” He stepped aside and gestured for Ace to step forward. “Ready?”

Ace took another slow, deep breath before he walked past Marco and into the building. It was almost too dark to see until Marco flicked the lights on behind him.

“I’m sure you’re already familiar with the waiting room,” Marco said, and Ace nodded. The memories were flooding back already, and he had to put his hands in his pockets so he’d stop fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. He watched as Marco walked past him, and it took him a few seconds to realize he should be following. When they passed through another set of doors into a hallway, Marco had to turn more lights on.

“I could show you around behind the reception desk, if you’d like,” Marco said. “But something tells me that’s not really the problem here.”

Ace only shook his head. The receptionist was just as friendly as the nurse had been; he didn’t have any problems with that. The real issue was further down the hall, and as much as he wanted to put it off, he knew dragging it out would only make things worse.

Marco gestured for him to follow until they came to another door he had to unlock. He leaned in through the doorway to turn the lights on before he gestured Ace forward. “Go ahead,” he said.

Slowly, carefully, Ace stepped into the exam room. It looked smaller than he remembered— or, maybe it was just a different room? He had no idea, and it probably didn’t matter. While he stood in the middle of the room and looked around, he felt a familiar anxiety creeping over him.

“Ace?”

He jumped and turned on his heels. Marco was standing in the doorway, and the sight of him was _really_ not helping. “Yeah?”

“Doing okay?” Marco asked.

Ace hesitated. Not _really,_ no. His anxiety wasn’t nearly as bad as the last time he’d been there, but with everything that had happened since then, he had a lot of other feelings mixed in that he didn’t care to acknowledge.

“Ace, you’re looking a little… sickly,” Marco said. “Do you want to sit down?”

“I’m okay,” Ace insisted, shaking his head. He turned back around to face the rest of the room again. He was trying to get over his fear of the _exam room,_ not his feelings about Marco. “Just… just gimme a minute.”

“Sure, take your time,” Marco replied. 

Ace breathed out a sigh. Marco was so _nice._ He’d been so patient with Ace. It was almost enough to make him feel at ease— maybe, if it weren’t for his embarrassing crush.

Right, the anxiety thing. Not his libido.

“What do you… _do_ in here, exactly?” Ace asked. Maybe if he knew exactly what was going to happen, he’d worry less.

“Well, that really depends on the reason for the visit,” Marco replied. “But a standard appointment starts with a review of the patient’s health history.”

Ace nodded. “Like, past illness and injuries and stuff?” he asked.

“Exactly,” Marco said. “We have it all on file, but it’s important to make sure it’s all accurate and up-to-date.” He was still behind Ace, but Ace could hear him stepping into the room. “Once that’s settled, I’ll usually give the patient a quick once-over to see if I can find any visible problems.”

Ace nodded again. He’d been staring at the floor, but he managed to look up at Marco as the man stood beside him.

“Would you like to sit?” Marco asked, resting a hand on the exam table.

Ace’s eyes widened just a fraction. He knew what Marco was doing— he was just trying to help Ace get comfortable, get accustomed to being in the exam room. But Ace’s mind was going other places.

He wasn’t about to explain himself, though, so he hopped up onto the table.

Marco stood nearby, but thankfully kept his distance as he talked about the tools hanging on the wall and explained how he used them. Some looked familiar, but Ace had never known what they were called, so at least he was learning something. Furthermore, hearing Marco talk about something he was genuinely interested in, seeing his face light up, was just…

Ah, Ace was getting flustered again.

“I don’t have a stethoscope on me at the moment, but I assume you’re familiar with that,” Marco continued. “I listen to the heart, lungs, and abdomen. It’s a very important part of the exam.”

“Can you… tell a lot just from listening?” Ace asked, genuinely curious. “I never really understood that.”

Marco nodded. “Yeah, definitely,” he said. “The slightest sound can tell me a lot. It’s pretty cool, honestly, hearing what sorts of sounds different parts of the body make. I could go grab my stethoscope, if you—”

“No, no, that’s alright,” Ace interrupted rather quickly. The last thing he needed was for Marco to _hear_ what he was feeling. His face was already red, he knew it. “I’ll… take your word for it.”

“That’s fine,” Marco said with another nod. He was still smiling, though that faded a bit when he looked at Ace again. “Are you alright? You’re looking a little… flushed.”

Ace gulped. He resisted a strong urge to respond with a not-so-subtle attempt at flirting. Now wasn’t the time. “Yeah, no, I’m… I’m fine,” he answered.

Marco furrowed his brow as he pressed the back of his hand to Ace’s forehead. “Are you sure?” he asked. His palm rested on Ace’s cheek. “You’re really warm.”

Ace stuttered out a few more syllables, nothing coherent. When Marco pulled his hand back, concern evident in his expression, Ace could finally breathe. Right. Okay. Marco knew he was anxious. It was nothing new. He could just be honest about that.

“Yeah, I’m sorry,” Ace said, shaking his head a little. “I’m just… kinda nervous. Being here again.”

“That’s perfectly understandable,” Marco said. His smile was so gentle that Ace almost swooned. “It’s okay to be nervous. You’re doing really well so far.”

Ace tried to ignore the way his heart fluttered at the praise. His gaze drifted down towards the floor. “It’s… I feel… a little better about all this, I think,” he said, though he wasn’t sure if that was entirely true. At the very least, he wasn’t on the verge of an anxiety attack. That was an improvement.

“That’s good to hear,” Marco replied. “Do you have any more questions?”

Ace thought about that. Part of him wanted to ask something along the lines of ’how have you been so sweet to me when I was such an ass to you before,’ but that didn’t really seem relevant to the topic at hand. “I don’t think so,” he said. “Thank you for… doing all this for me, though. It means a lot.”

“Of course,” Marco said. That smile was back, directed right at Ace. “I just want you to be comfortable so you can get the help you need. So I’m more than happy to assist where I can.”

Ace couldn’t help but show a little smile of his own. Maybe there was hope for him after all, if he had such a thoughtful person helping him.

* * *

Marco spent the remainder of his day relaxing. He made himself a nice dinner and put on a movie, which had him drifting off on the couch by the end. The music in the credits was enough to wake him up, though, saving his back from a night of uncomfortable sleep.

It was still pretty early in the evening, so he headed to the bathroom to take a shower. He’d already showered that morning, so it was meant to be quick… though, somewhere along the way, he got a little sidetracked.

Marco didn’t really have a high sex drive— at least, not compared to his younger self. He pleasured himself every now and then, more as a way to relax than anything else. And it had been quite a while, he realized as he leaned back against the shower wall and idly stroked himself.

He was never really one to fantasize, though, for whatever reason, his brain felt the need to conjure something up this time around. He wasn’t sure _what,_ though— he hadn’t had a partner in quite a long time, not since his last long-term relationship ended. And he definitely didn’t want to think about his ex. Anything after that was just one-off dates that didn’t end in anything special, and fantasizing about a near-stranger didn’t feel right.

He only let his mind wander to a certain freckled man for half a second before he shook his head. _No,_ he was _not_ going down that road.

A faceless partner it was, then.

He thought about someone getting on their knees for him and taking his cock into their mouth, and his hand started moving faster. It had been ages since someone gave him some good head, and while he was always more inclined to give than receive, that didn’t mean he’d refuse an offer.

Briefly, that faceless stranger had wavy black hair, and Marco wondered which Ace would prefer.

He purged those thoughts from his mind as quickly as possible, focusing instead on the way the streams of water hit his cock. He angled himself in such a way that made him shiver, and that spurred him on to move his hand faster.

Just as he neared the finish line, he heard a distant _thump_ from somewhere else in the building. He didn’t pay much mind to it, though— it was an apartment, after all. He heard plenty of random noises he could ignore. He just bucked his hips into his hand before he came with a sigh, and the stream of water washed away the mess as quickly as it had appeared.

He took the time to properly bathe himself before he stepped out of the shower and dried himself off. He had just finished brushing his teeth when he heard his cell phone ringing, and walked out to the kitchen with a towel around his waist to grab it.

He frowned when he saw Ace’s name on the caller ID.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Hey, Marco,” Ace’s voice came through. “Are you busy? It’s, uh… it’s kind of an emergency. Maybe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i also wanted u all to know that a while back i sent a request to support and the op fandom now owns the "doctor marco" tag (it used to default to marco bott but there haven't been any fics in that tag for him in years) and i love that for us


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello i know it has been a while Again and i am so sorry to leave yall hanging like that
> 
> this is a real short chapter compared to the others, but i really wanted to get this scene out there! i've still got a lot of other stuff to work on over the next month or so, but i think i'd like to come back and add more to this chapter at some point. if that happens, i'll be sure to let you know in the next author's note so you don't miss it. you can also check out my [tumblr](https://tellmewhatyouc.tumblr.com/) or track the '#wcs posting' tag for updates!

Marco nearly tripped over his own feet as he rushed to Ace’s apartment with his first aid kit tucked under his arm. Ace hadn’t given him any more detail than ‘I hit my head,’ but that was all Marco needed. He didn’t want to waste time asking questions when he could just go next door and speak to Ace in person.

“Ace?” Marco knocked on the door before he pressed an ear to it. “It’s Marco.”

“Come in,” a weary voice called from the other side. As soon as Marco realized the door was unlocked, he made his way inside.

“Ace?” he called again, looking around the room. The moment he spotted Ace lying in the middle of the kitchen area, bleeding from a cut on his forehead, Marco rushed to his side. “Ace, what happened?”

Ace took a deep breath, pushing his hair out of his face. “It… happened again,” he said. “The cataplexy thing. I hit the counter, and I’m… really dizzy.”

Marco glanced up at the countertop, eyeing the sharp corner. He supposed it could have been a lot worse; at least Ace was conscious and able to call for help. “Where’s your roommate?” Marco asked as he opened his first aid kit.

“He’s out for the night,” Ace answered, “Doin’ somethin’ for work, I think.”

Marco unwrapped a gauze pad from the bag, then pressed it to the cut on Ace’s forehead. “Hold this here?” he said, and let go once Ace had it. “Did you call 911?”

Ace’s eyes went wide. “No, no ambulance,” he said, “Please. I called you for a reason.”

Still, Marco pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Ace, I’m a family doctor, not a paramedic,” he said. “We should call someone more equipped for emergencies like this.”

Ace shook his head. “Marco, _please,”_ he said. “I don’t wanna deal with all that right now. I’m fine. It’s just a cut.”

Marco hesitated, his gaze shifting between Ace’s pleading eyes and his finger hovering over the call button. The poor guy was clearly anxious, and Marco doubted a group of strangers prodding at him would make things any better. He could at least... _assess_ Ace, calm him down a little. Then, if his condition warranted more qualified help, they could call for an ambulance.

With a sigh, Marco tucked his phone back into his pocket and stood up to wash his hands. “Did you pass out?” he asked.

Ace visibly relaxed when he realized Marco wasn’t calling anyone, though he still seemed a bit confused by the question. “I don’t… think so?” he said. “S’kinda hard to know for sure.”

Marco frowned. He didn’t like the sound of that. “Can you tell me what day it is?” he asked while he dried his hands off, then knelt back down by Ace’s side.

“Uh… Sunday,” Ace said with a little nod. “‘Cause your office was closed.”

“Good,” Marco replied. At least Ace remembered what he’d been up to earlier in the day; that was a good sign. Marco put on a pair of gloves before he reached over to peek under the gauze. Ace was still bleeding, though less than before. “It’s a pretty small cut,” he said, much to Ace’s relief. “You won’t need stitches or anything. It’s just bleeding a lot because your face has a lot of blood vessels close to the skin.”

Marco kept talking to Ace while he cleaned the cut, asking him basic questions about his life and what he’d been doing before he fell. His answers were all coherent, thankfully, and by the time Marco taped a smaller piece of gaze to his forehead, he’d calmed down quite a bit.

“Thank you for helping me,” Ace said as Marco helped him sit up, watching him carefully. “It… it really means a lot.”

“I’m glad I could be of assistance,” Marco replied. While he’d much prefer Ace call an ambulance next time, it wasn’t a good time to scold him. “I’m just going to check your head for any other injuries or obvious signs of a concussion.”

Ace nodded, then kept still as Marco gently prodded around his head. Marco noticed a hint of a blush on his cheeks, but didn’t think much of it. It seemed fair enough to be embarrassed in a situation like that— especially considering it wasn’t the first time Marco had seen him in such a state.

“Let me know if anything hurts,” Marco mumbled, only a second before Ace hissed in pain. It seemed there was a tender spot on the side of his head, but thankfully, he wasn’t bleeding there. “I’ll grab you some ice in a minute, okay?”

Ace nodded again. “Thank you,” he repeated, his voice a little quieter than before.

When Marco titled Ace’s head up to check his eyes, he immediately noticed his pupils were dilated— he’d almost find it endearing if it wasn’t so concerning. He furrowed his brow and leaned in closer to get a better look. At least they appeared to be the same size, so it wasn’t something to worry much about. It could just be an anxiety response.

Although Ace was looking… pretty dazed.

“Do you still feel dizzy, Ace?” Marco asked, searching Ace’s expression for any signs of discomfort. Ace didn’t answer the question, though. He was just sort of… gazing up at Marco. “Ace?” Marco tried again. “Can you hear m— _mmph!_ ”

Ace’s mouth cut the question short. He grabbed Marco’s cheeks, holding him in place. And despite Marco’s mind racing to figure out just what the fuck was going on, he closed his eyes and returning the kiss.

It was… gentler than the first time. No loud music, no alcohol taste. Just a soft pair of lips against his own. Marco’s hands fell from Ace’s head to rest on his waist, gloves still on but long forgotten.

When Ace started leaning back, taking Marco along with him, the doctor finally came to his senses.

Ace was injured. He was vulnerable. He was _twenty-one years old._ This had to stop.

Marco broke the kiss, though he kept a hand on Ace’s back so he wouldn’t fall over. Ace’s blush was significantly darker than before, and he was panting softly as he gazed back at Marco. Once he had a moment to recover from the kiss, his eyes went wide as saucers.

“I’m— I’m so sorry,” Ace blurted out, shaking his head. He dropped his hands from Marco’s face, crossing his arms over his chest instead. “That was… I’m sorry.”

Marco didn’t respond right away. He just took a deep breath and, once he was sure Ace could sit up on his own, pulled his hands away. Slowly, he stood up to remove his gloves and toss them into the trash.

“I… don’t think you have a concussion,” Marco finally spoke, his tone much calmer than he felt. “But you should really check in with another doctor to be sure.” He cleared his throat. “And, um… drink some water. Take it easy. And... call your roommate, he should come home to keep an eye on you.” Marco nodded to himself. Was that everything? It sounded about right, but his brain was too scrambled to know for sure.

“Okay,” Ace replied, barely audible. He wouldn’t look up at Marco, just staring down at the floor. “Uh… thank you. Again.”

“Sure,” Marco replied, picking up his first aid kit. “Ah... get well soon.”

He didn’t wait for Ace to respond before he got the hell out of there.

* * *

“What do you _mean,_ you kissed him?”

Ace only groaned in response. He’d called Sanji back home as soon as he could, but was already regretting it. He’d faceplanted into a couch cushion only moments before, hoping he could avoid any further confrontation.

“Ace, you can’t just tell me something like that and not explain what the hell happened,” Sanji said, nudging Ace’s side with his foot. “We should really talk about this.”

Ace told Sanji that he’d much rather not talk about it, though his statement was muffled by the cushion and almost entirely incoherent.

“What?” Sanji asked. Another nudge with his foot. “You have to lift your head. I can’t understand you like this.”

Reluctantly, Ace turned his head to press his cheek to the cushion instead. “I said I don’t wanna _talk_ about it,” he told Sanji. “It’s fuckin’ embarrassing. I bet he thinks I’m some kinda creep now.”

“Ace, I don’t think you could come across that way if you tried,” Sanji said. “What _happened?_ Was his reaction really that bad?”

Ace let out a huff as he sat up, holding an ice pack to the side of his head. He’d grabbed it before Sanji got back, and it was starting to melt, but he couldn’t bring himself to care much. “I mean… he was _kinda_ kissing back,” he said, “But only for a few seconds. After that, he just pulled back and started talking about concussions like it hadn’t even happened.”

Sanji raised his eyebrows. “Define ‘kinda,’” he said. “Was he kissing you or not?”

“I… I _guess,”_ Ace said with a shrug. “I dunno. I was really out of it.”

“So… you’re saying this is the second time you’ve kissed him, and he’s kissed you back both times, and you’re still not sure if he’s attracted to men?”

_“You’ve_ kissed me back before,” Ace countered. “And as far as I know, you’re not attracted to me.”

Sanji crossed his arms. “Definitely not,” he said. “But that’s not the _point._ It’s different.”

“How is it different?”

“For one, Marco has been sober both times you’ve kissed,” Sanji said. “And he likes you, Ace. Even as a friend, I can already tell he likes you. I don’t think he’d hate you over a kiss, especially not right after you took a blow to the head.”

Ace sighed, slumping over the back of the couch. However, when Sanji’s words caused a realization, his eyes went wide, and he sat up straight. “Wait, that’s it!”

Sanji blinked. “What?”

“I have an _excuse,”_ Ace said. “The first time, I was drunk. This time, I was all woozy from the impact. If he’s gonna act all weird about it, I can just blame it on the head injury.”

Sanji furrowed his brow. “You’re just gonna lie to him?”

“It’s not a _lie,_ per se,” Ace said, even though he knew it totally was. “We don’t really know how bad the injury is, do we? My judgement could be compromised.”

“...If you’re that concerned, maybe you should go see a doctor.”

“Absolutely not.” Ace stood from the couch. “I’m going to bed. Can you wake me up in a couple hours to make sure I’m still alive?”

Sanji sighed. “Sure, Ace,” he said as he turned towards the kitchen. “But if I see anything weird, I’m taking you to the hospital.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like the pacing here is an accomplishment for me since my other long-term wip is on chapter 19 and the characters have hugged once
> 
> BUT ANYWAY i hope you're all having a lovely holiday, thanks for following this fic so far!


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